What? Condoms Can Prevent AIDS? No Way!
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.
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