UN AIDS Summit Overcomes Condom Resistance

A statement released Friday at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS clearly backs condom use as a key tool in the global fight against HIV. According to negotiators, the release stressing the "correct and consistent use of condoms" overcame opposition from the Vatican and conservative Muslim countries. "It is a first at the UN General Assembly," said a diplomat who worked on the negotiations for two months.

The statement, said George Tembo, head of the HIV/AIDS department at the UN Population Fund, is "very explicit and will definitely help our work to overcome resistance and fears about condoms." UNPF estimates the worldwide need for condoms for HIV prevention and family planning has increased from roughly 13 billion in 2004 to around 19 billion last year. The fund released 3.2 billion condoms to targeted countries in 2010, up from 2.7 billion in 2009, said Tembo.