Fight Against HIV/AIDS Pandemic Should "Move Beyond Debate" Over Abstinence, Letter to Editor Says

"In the fight against AIDS, people tend to pit abstinence and fidelity programs against condoms," Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE, writes in a Wall Street Journal letter to the editor in response to a recent Journal article. "That is a false dichotomy," Gayle writes, adding that the "dynamics of HIV transmission vary from country to country, and HIV prevention strategies must be tailored to respond in each context." She adds that prevention strategies should "give individuals a range of realistic choices to protect themselves and must reduce barriers that prevent people from making choices." According to Gayle, it is "time to move beyond the debate about 'more abstinence' or 'less abstinence' and focus on the real challenge: the most effective and comprehensive use of all HIV prevention approaches at our disposal to save as many people as possible from HIV infection" (Gayle, Wall Street Journal, 5/31).

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