Condom Ban Feeds
HIV Infections in Latin America

The rate of HIV infections in Latin America is skyrocketing, fueled in part by the Roman Catholic Church's ban on condom use, a United Nations official said Monday.

Reuters reports that 1.7 million people in South America have HIV or AIDS. The epidemic is quickly spreading, with 410,000 new cases reported in 2006, an increase from the 320,000 new cases in 2004.

"The fact [that] young people start to be sexually active between 15 and 19 without sex education contributes to the spreading of the virus, as well as the fact that the evidence shows abstinence is not working," Alberto Stella, a UNAIDS coordinator, told Reuters.

Half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics reside in South America. The church opposes all forms of contraception and advocates abstinence to avoid all sexually transmitted diseases. (The Advocate)