Do condoms help in the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission?
[AMBIENCE SOUND] In a remote village in Malawi, community volunteers discuss HIV/AIDS transmission and its prevention. At the end of 2007, there were about 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS: 2.7 million people were estimated to have acquired the HIV infection that year. Although the epidemic has stabilized, it remains a leading challenge for global health. Condoms are one of the main forms of protection from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Dr Kevin De Cock from WHO’s HIV/AIDS department tells us why it is vital to promote their use. Dr Kevin De Cock: The evidence around use of male condoms to prevent HIV transmission is that latex condoms if used consistently and correctly are highly effective in preventing the transmission of HIV. They are not the only important prevention strategy but they are an important component of comprehensive prevention efforts worldwide in association with other interventions. Importantly, there is no scientific evidence that promoting th
