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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review June 16, 2005 / 9 Sivan, 5765

Stemming AIDS in Africa simply

By Kathryn Lopez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Elton John is furious at Bob Geldof for inviting the Pope to one of the upcoming Live 8 concerts, organized to raise money for sick and starving Africans. What's the Rocket Man's problem with the pontiff attending the party? Condoms.

Elton is peeved about the Vatican's longstanding position against artificial birth control, including condoms, considering it a slap in the face for those working to stem the spread of AIDS in Africa.

In his estimation, "Banning Condoms Kills," as the abortion-advocacy group Catholics for a Free Choice stated in an ad campaign. And so the Catholic Church, according to the chattering class, is a major accomplice in the pandemic senselessly killing off African adults and orphaning their children.

In a story published right after Pope John Paul II died earlier this year, the British New Statesman proclaimed that he "did more to spread AIDS in Africa than prostitution and the trucking industry combined." F.Y.I., John Paul said: "fidelity within marriage and abstinence outside are the only sure ways to limit the further spread of AIDS infection."

Excuse my simplemindedness, but that seems like exactly the pill Africa needs. And you don't have to take the Vatican's word for it. Throwing condoms at the problem has simply not worked in Africa. Fidelity and abstinence, where it has been tried — most notably in Uganda — seems to give people a fighting chance, as it logically would.

Edward Green, senior research scientist at the Harvard Center for Population and Developmental Studies, is an expert on the "ABC" approach to AIDS prevention: "Abstain; Be Faithful; Use Condoms."

Don't have sex if you're not married; be true to your spouse if you are married; use a condom as a last resort as Green explains in his book "Rethinking AIDS Prevention, Learning from Successes in the Developing World" (Praeger, 2003). Uganda has embraced this approach and the standout results present a model for attacking the African pandemic.

Between 1991 and 2001, HIV infection rates went from about 15 percent to 5 percent. In Kampala, the country's capital, HIV among pregnant women dropped from 30 percent to 10 percent.


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How? Uganda's president blanketing the country in ABC education. Premarital sex rates went down, for one — something Western elites rarely consider possible, here or abroad.

You mean education and behavior change might go further than Bill Gates airlifting condoms into Africa? Teach a man to respect himself and the women around him, and you might just be en route to putting a dent into a pandemic. And you don't have to be pope to realize that.

Unfortunately, the ABC approach may not spread and flourish, even in Uganda. Because of "conventional wisdom of the world," major donors to Africa do not favor the A and the B of it. According to Green, "If you look at the current national Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS, which is a blueprint for all the activities supported in Uganda to combat AIDS, you will see that there are virtually no A or B elements there. The document is all about condoms, STDs, future vaccines, future microbicides and testing."

This approach reflects the attitudes the major donors like. In fact, the word abstinence appears only twice in the body of this 77-page document, but only as part of a general approach — there are no specific objectives or impact measures associated with A or B interventions."

That remarkable turnaround in Uganda is reversing course due to Western ways. But despite the successful evidence, some Westerners are wedded to their tried-and-failing ways, putting that remarkable turnaround in danger and holding the rest of Africa (among others) back.

Large donors and popular voices like Elton John seem to think you must give the Third World inhabitants condoms because you can't keep them from promiscuity. That insulting attitude does Africans a deadly disservice. People deserve to know they have alternatives in life to risky sex.

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Not only do the numbers show that the approach isn't ending the scourge of AIDS, but a whole host of other, associated problems. Donna M. Hughes, a women's studies professor at the University of Rhode Island who's an advocate for victims of sex slavery, has noted: "If men more often chose to 'keep it in their pants' ... there would be less demand for women and girls for prostitution. If men more often choose to be faithful, they would not contract HIV and transmit it to their monogamous wives, who are frequently identified as one of the fastest-growing HIV-positive subgroups."

Hughes, once a buyer into the condom conventional wisdom, now believes "that the ABC approach is good for women and girls." And it ain't too shabby for men, either, obviously. Feminists — who are normally averse to the "abstinence" word, associating it with (heaven forbid) George W. Bush (who favors ABC) and the Catholic "patriarchy," ought to hold their noses and give it some consideration. They could lead a revolution and save a continent!

"If it turns out that the findings from Uganda and other countries are confirmed, and we have failed to promote the right messages, then it is not too far-fetched to say that millions of lives could have been saved and yet were not," notes Green.

Is proving the pope wrong really worth taking that kind of chance? Even the Rocket Man can see there's no bloody point in that.

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