Elanso

In this day and age there is a great deal of misinformation pertaining to the spread of HIV and AIDS even when a condom is utilized during sexual activity.  Unfortunately, there is some indication that some of the misinformation that has been spread today is intentional.  In other words, some of the misinformation about condom usage and the spread of AIDS seems to be perpetrated by people who have a definite political agenda.

When all is said and done, AIDS needs to be treated like the public health problem that it is.  Dealing with and protecting against HIV and AIDS needs to be a matter of public health and not permitted to become a political football.

Perhaps the first step that should be taken in order to deal with politicization of AIDS is to rectify and correct some of the misperceptions and misinformation that is in wide circulation today.  One common urban legend (if you will) surrounding condom usage and AIDS is that one in three people who have sex with a person infected with HIV or AIDS will contract the disease even if they use condoms 100% when involved in sexual encounters with such an infected individual.  

Reference oftentimes is made to a purported study that indicated that in a study of married couples where one of the spouses was infected with HIV or AIDS, even using condoms 100% of the time, 17 of 100 partners ended up infected with HIV. 

These “studies” went on to conclude that the only way to really prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS is abstinence.  While it is true that the only 100% effective way of preventing the spread of HIV through sexual contact is abstinence, there remain other avenues through which this disease or infection can spread even though great strides have been made to prevent transmission through these other avenues.

The reality is that while it remains possible for condoms to fail or break during sex and allow the exchange of bodily fluids, the transmission rate of HIV from an infected to an uninfected individual when condoms are utilized is nowhere near the level that is reported from these so-called studies.  The success rate of condoms while not perfect is fairly close to that level.  All reputable medical and health care experts agree that condoms are the most effective means of preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections or diseases, including HIV and AIDS.

The use of condoms coupled with proper education and information about safe sex practices generally really does work to stave off the spread of HIV between partners when one of the partners is a carrier of the infection.  The percentage of individuals who practice safe sex, including the use of condoms, in a situation in which one of the partners is infected and both partners know of this reality is negligible.  In the end, intimacy as part of a relationship with a person suffering from HIV or AIDS remains a safe possibility with the proper use of condoms and appropriate education.