[Vision2020] Larry Craig

[Ralph Nielsen]

What a pleasure it is to read something positive and intelligent from  
Larry Craig. See the 4th last paragraph.

Ralph Nielsen



What? Condoms Can Prevent AIDS? No Way!

Published: August 26, 2005
Six years ago, former prostitutes in several Central American  
countries began going to brothels, beer halls, bars and discos from  
Tegucigalpa to Managua and Mexico City. Every night, these women  
walked out of their homes and into the red-light districts in the  
poorest parts of these very poor cities. They carried over their  
shoulders bags filled with their props for the night.

Their aim was simple: to teach their former colleagues about the  
dangers of H.I.V. and AIDS and how to protect themselves and others.

Because so many of the prostitutes are illiterate, each shoulder bag  
of props contained materials for a game called Lotería (lottery). The  
game is like bingo; the prostitutes sit around a table and receive  
game cards, each with three rows and three columns: nine squares in  
all. Each square has a picture, like a palm tree, a doctor or a  
couple. The teacher holds up a pictograph card and calls out the name  
of what is pictured.

For instance, holding up a picture of a palm tree, the H.I.V.  
educator says, "La palmera," and then explains how condoms help  
people avoid H.I.V. and AIDS, just as palm trees help them avoid  
sunburn. Or, holding up a picture of la pareja (the couple), the  
teacher may mention the need to talk about condoms with a client or a  
partner.

If a game participant finds the pictograph on her Lotería card, she  
places a chip on that image. The first player to cover all nine  
images on her card wins a small prize.

Simple and straightforward, right? Well, not to Senator Tom Coburn,  
the Oklahoma Republican who recently wrote to President Bush to  
demand that the United States stop financing this preventive program,  
run by Population Services International, a nonprofit group.

"The project which has been funding these prostitute parties is up  
for renewal, and P.S.I. has applied for tens of millions more to  
continue the project," Mr. Coburn wrote. "There is something  
seriously askew at USAid when the agency's response to a dehumanizing  
and abusive practice that exploits women and young girls is parties  
and games."

Mr. Coburn also complained about the Noches Vives program: noches  
means nights, and Vives is a brand of condoms. Because most  
prostitutes in poor countries don't show up at local clinics to ask  
for condoms, P.S.I. sponsors Noches Vives, which has aid workers go  
to bars, brothels and other places where prostitutes congregate. They  
go from table to table, asking prostitutes and their clients for 5 or  
10 minutes of their time. They hand out condoms and, sometimes using  
bananas as props, show people how to use them.

"It's a simple activity for largely illiterate people," said Michael  
Holscher, the regional executive director for P.S.I. "We can't just  
stand up in a bar and say, 'AIDS will kill you.' With an interactive  
activity, we can hold their attentions, sometimes for as long as an  
hour."

Apparently one hour of AIDS prevention in a Guatemala bar is one hour  
too long for the senator from Oklahoma's delicate sensibilities. He  
called Noches Vives a "misuse of funds to organize and sponsor  
parties and dance contests to exploit victims of the sex trade."

Shortly after Mr. Coburn's letter went out, Population Services  
International received word from the United States Agency for  
International Development that it was cutting off money for the program.

Many of Mr. Coburn's fellow Republican senators disagree with him.  
Larry Craig of Idaho, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Gordon Smith of Oregon  
have asked USAid's administrator, Andrew Natsios, to reconsider.

"Controlling infectious diseases abroad is domestic policy as much as  
foreign," Mr. Craig said. "Ignoring the problem by hamstringing  
proven programs is a disservice to U.S. citizens who are impacted by  
the wave of immigrants from these countries."

No kidding. It is also an absurd approach to curtailing AIDS. Mr.  
Coburn, a doctor, has apparently forgotten everything they taught him  
in medical school. Any doctor with sense knows that while abstinence  
may be a surefire way to prevent AIDS, teaching condom usage to  
prostitutes isn't far behind.

Let's hope the folks at USAid come to their senses soon.