USAID refuses to release report that shows abstinence works in HIV prevention

Washington D.C., Feb 14, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has shelved a study that highlights the effectiveness of abstinence education in reducing HIV infection and has commissioned a second study to a researcher known to advocate condom distribution instead, reports Focus on the Family.

Focus on the Family has urged key members of Congress to look into why a government health agency, charged with dispersing funds to HIV-prevention efforts in Africa, is contradicting Bush administration policy that supports abstinence education.

The issue is examined in depth in the March issue of Focus on the Family’s Citizen Magazine, which has been mailed to hundreds of senators and congressmen. The cover story, titled "Burying the Truth," examines the research being suppressed, which was conducted by Harvard scientist Edward C. Green, a self-described "secular liberal."

"What USAID has done is a slap in the face to the administration it is supposed to serve," said Peter Brandt, senior director of government and public policy at Focus on the Family.

"The stated policy of President Bush is to stress abstinence education first in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, because that is the approach that has been scientifically proven to save lives."