Abstract

PIP: A campaign to promote safe sex through the use of condoms has sparked a heated controversy in Uganda, as influential religious leaders have come out in opposition to a practice which they fear will lead to sexual promiscuity. The campaign, backed by the Ugandan government, is designed to halt the rapidly spreading AIDS epidemic. With 20,000 AIDS cases as of June 1991, Uganda leads all African countries in the number of reported cases. Additionally, it is estimated that some 7 million of the country's 17 million inhabitants are HIV-positive. This alarming situation forced President Yoweri Museveni to reverse his stance and come out in favor of the condom campaign. The campaign is being launched by the Ugandan pharmaceutical firm Armtrades Ltd with financial and technical support from USAID and the Ugandan government. The condom campaign, however, has aroused strong opposition from the religious community. Angered by advertisements advising Ugandans to "love carefully" by wearing condoms, Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Wamala urged his followers in August to reject condoms, calling then an insult to the dignity of man. Following Wamala's lead, other top churchmen came out in opposition to the condom campaign at a recent AIDS prevention leadership conference. One of the clergymen present at the conference told Health Minister James Makumbi that the condom campaign will make young people indulge in uncontrolled sexual immorality. Moslem clerics have also stated their opposition to condoms, fearing sexual promiscuity. But the religious community itself has come under criticism for their opposition to condoms. Stressing that lives are at stake, the popular weekly Topic recently cautioned churchmen that this is not the time to engage in academic and moralistic debates.