Uganda AIDS Experience Points to Effectiveness of Abstinence Education
Steven Ertelt
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading abortion advocate in Congress opened up a can of worms last week when he released a report claiming that federally funded abstinence education programs are ineffective and rely on misleading science and information.
However, a look at a key anti-AIDS program in the African nation of Uganda points to solid success of how focus on abstinence can decrease infection rates.
In an op-ed in Sunday's Washington Times newspaper, Washington-area investigative writer Carey Roberts takes a look at the Ugandan success story.
A focus on abstinence education "has been carried out in Uganda over the past 15 years," Roberts writes.
"There, a massive public education campaign was mounted ... and religious organizations were tapped to play key roles," Roberts explained.
"The results were impressive: the HIV infection rate in Uganda dropped from 15 percent to 5 percent. In 1991, 21 percent of pregnant women had the deadly HIV virus. Ten years later, that figure had dropped to 6 percent," Roberts wrote in the Times article.
Read the entire article on the Life News website (link closed).