HIV Rates Spike In Phillipines, But Church & Conservatives Kill Condom And Sex Ed Plan - NYT
Because OF COURSE THEY DID.
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The infection rate has been particularly explosive among gay men under 25 years, like Mr. Tumala. Among young people most at risk for H.I.V. — gay men, injecting drug users, transgender women and female prostitutes — the rate of new infections has increased 230 percent between 2011 and 2015. But the Philippines has been stymied in its efforts to raise awareness about the disease and to arrive at an effective strategy for preventing it among young people.
According to the Health Department, only 17 percent of Filipinos between the ages of 15 to 24 understand what H.I.V. is and how it spreads. Last month, the Philippine Department of Education announced that it would scrap a plan developed by the Health Department to distribute condoms to juniors and seniors in public high schools. The plan would have trained teachers to counsel students on how to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and to offer voluntary H.I.V. testing. It would have also provided training to help parents talk to their children about sex.
The plan was opposed by a coalition of parents, the Roman Catholic Church and conservative politicians. “The Department of Health and the Department of Education should concentrate on uplifting the values of the Filipino youth,” Senator Vicente Sotto III said in an interview last month. He argued that distributing condoms in schools amounted to encouraging promiscuity, and pointed out that condoms were already available free at public health centers and for sale in convenience stores.
The Rev. Jerome Secillano, an officer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, praised the decision to back away from the plan as “a wise move.” About 80 percent of Filipinos are members of the Catholic Church, which advocates abstinence as the way to reduce H.I.V. infections.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/world/asia/as-hiv-soars-in-philippines-conservatives-kill-school-condom-plan.html
