Papal policy, poverty, and AIDS
Morley, D.
Bmj 300(6741) 1705; Discussion: 1706-1707
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0959-8138 PMID: 2390554 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.300.6741.1705Document Number: 370198
Papal "pronouncements" have been a major cause of the Philippines' increasing poverty, and of its failure to promote the only method proved to limit the spread of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Kenya has a growth rate of 3-4% and will double its population in 17 years. The UK has an average family size of 1.8 children. This is due to contraceptive usage. The poor lack knowledge and funds to ignore the rulings of the Catholic Church. Families will have 7 or more children without access to modern contraceptives. The Philippine elite are 90% Catholic, and disregard church policy and use contraceptives. Therefore, they have small families. Abortion is widely used in Latin America. It is the leading cause of death of women aged 15-39. The Philippines is industrializing rapidly; businessmen, however, do not see a future in producing condoms here. Widespread availability of condoms would limit the spread of AIDS. Mainly surveys show that in 1989 only 5 to 10/1000 prostitutes were positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Other Asian countries have shown large increases in HIV infection occurrence in 2-3 years. Pope John Paul has been telling young people in Burkina Faso that they "must face the plagues of modern times." He did not identify these plaques. However, Monsignore Carlo Cafara, dean of John Paul II's Institute for Marriage and Family Studies at the Vatican, told a recent conference that when 1 partner of a married couple is positive for AIDS, it is preferable to risk catching the AIDS virus than to use condoms. St. Paul would have approved the use of modern contraceptive methods.