A ban on using national funds to distribute condoms could result in an explosion of HIV/AIDS cases in this predominantly Roman-Catholic nation, an international human rights watchdog warned yesterday.
The Philippines has one of Asia's lowest AIDS infection rates, with about 10,000 cases in a country of 84 million.
But Human Rights Watch said the government's refusal to pay for condom distribution means large numbers of Filipinos will be denied access to one of the best means of prevention for those who are sexually active, placing many at risk of infection with the virus.
"The Philippines is courting an AIDS epidemic with its anti-condom approach," said researcher Jona-than Cohen. "The casualties will be millions of people who cannot protect themselves from HIV infection."
The report, Unprotected: Sex, Condoms, and the Human Right to Health in the Philippines, noted that some local officials, like the Manila mayor, prohibit distribution of condoms in government health facilities. Educators are often not allowed to discuss condoms, it added.
Last year, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines blocked legislation authorizing the use of national funds for condoms and other contraceptives.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration awarded a 50 million peso (US$896,000) contract to an organization, Couples for Christ, to provide "natural family planning" seminars that discourage condom use, the report said.
The report criticized the Philippines for failing to provide complete HIV/AIDS information to sex workers and other groups at high risk of infection. Police use possession of condoms as evidence to prosecute prostitutes.
Archbishop Fernando Capalla, president of the CBCP, refused to comment on the report until he had seen it. But he said the church's preference for married couples' use of natural birth control methods is known.
He said the church believes sex workers should be convinced to seek another livelihood, and that promoting condom use among them would not be right.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
RSS