President Bush: Abstinence Still Needed in Africa to Combat AIDS

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 6, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

President Bush: Abstinence Still Needed in Africa to Combat AIDS Email this article
Printer friendly page

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 6, 2005

Copenhagen, Denmark (LifeNews.com) — President Bush has said he would continue rely on an abstinence-based approach of dealing with the AIDS epidemic plaguing the African continent, a move that is delighting pro-life groups. Bush announced the commitment at the G8 conference, focused on helping address the political and economic problems in Africa.

Bush pledged support for HUV/AIDS programs that respect the "values and traditions of Africa" and those that reflect "the moral teachings of African cultures."

"No one is helped when outsiders try to impose a lower standard of responsibility," President Bush said.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, of Concerned Women for America, said the president "offered hope to the whole African continent by supporting prevention programs that emphasize abstinence."

"By following the example of Uganda, other African nations can use the ABC program (which recommends abstinence and faithfulness in marriage and recommends condoms only as a last resort) to prevent HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases," Crouse explained.

More than 60 percent of the 40 million people worldwide infected with the AIDS virus live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world.

As a model for success, some point to a key anti-AIDS program in the African nation of Uganda that points to solid success of how focus on abstinence can decrease infection rates.

Washington-area investigative writer Carey Roberts wrote in a Washington Times article late last year that Uganda has been using abstinence to combat AIDS for 15 years.

"The results were impressive: the HIV infection rate in Uganda dropped from 15 percent to 5 percent. In 1991, 21 percent of pregnant women had the deadly HIV virus. Ten years later, that figure had dropped to 6 percent," Roberts wrote in the Times article.

In fact, only 6.2% of Ugandans in the 15-49 age group are now HIV-positive, compared with more than 15% in the early 1990s.

In his G8 address, Bush urged other nations to adopt similar programs.

The president has also ensured that taxpayer dollars are going to pro-abortion groups that participate in anti-AIDS programs.

In August 2003, President Bush cut off funding for an AIDS program because Marie Stopes International, a British-based abortion business, was involved. Marie Stope’s work with the UNFPA and its support for China’s population control policy of forced abortions and sterilizations also "touched off similar concerns" according to a State Department official.

In his 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush pledged $15 billion over five years to fight global disease, with a particular focus on AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS kills a child every 30 seconds.

Congress is close to being on track to fulfill that pledge. In the past two years, it has appropriated $5 billion and stipulations to promote abstinence education have been attached to legislation.

Related web sites:
Concerned Women for America – https://www.cwfa.org