Category Archives: Medical Issues

James Bond in Danger…For Real

Jane Jimenez

Jane Jimenez

July 30, 2004

Our son Justin just graduated from college and came home for a few weeks to regroup before heading off for a new life in Florida.

Sorting through his belongings and packing boxes, we came across the twelve VCR tapes of James Bond movies Justin recorded many years back during a week-long Bond marathon on television.  Forty years of 007 tradition…Moneypenny, “M”, vodka martinis, shaken not stirred, gadgets in watches, cars that sail and fly into space…all of it tightly packed into a box headed for Florida.

Bond, the ultimate Man…always clever, swift, rough, rugged, deft, handsome, smug, suave, debonair.  Bond…always a survivor.

Not anymore.

But it’s not what you might expect.  Bond is not in danger of death from villains, double-crosses, guns, crossbows, or bombs.  Nope.

It’s the action under the sheets that has Bond one step from the grave.

Professor John Ashton, a director of public health in the UK, has just pointed out the obvious. If James Bond were a real person, the good professor tells reporters, he would have almost certainly been HIV positive.  007 is more at risk from careless sex than he is from any arch enemy.

Beginning in 1962 with Ursula, Eunice, and Daniela, straight through forty years into the new millennium with Denise and Elektra…The World is Never Enough when it comes to Bond and his women.  No matter how swift the action and dangerous the situation, in each and every movie 007 always has time to “make whoopee” with a new Bond woman.

Liberated by Hollywood magic, Bond and his eternal harem are free to flow with their sexual urges.  No matter how short the friendship, or how fleeting the relationship, 007 and his woman of the moment inevitably merge in a big-screen sexual romp.

According to Hollywood, sex is everything wonderful…anytime, anywhere, and with anyone.

According to medical realities, sex is only wonderful…in the right time, in the right place, and with the right person.  And no gadget known to mankind will save Bond…or the rest of us…from the inevitable.

Medical realities are amassing in data to prove the truth of what abstinence educators have been teaching over the past twenty years.  Professor Ashton raises the same alarm.  Sex has consequences, both good and bad.  And the bad consequences of sex will not disappear, no matter how big the denial is from those who promote condoms and “safe sex.”

The medical realities are these.  The world is engulfed in a major STD epidemic.  We now have over 20 serious STDs responsible for death, infertility, and incurable infections.  New national figures just released for England, where Professor Ashton lives, show a dramatic increase of STDs.  Syphilis is up 28 per cent from the previous year, and chlamydia is up by nine percent.  No wonder.

Condoms are not fail-safe.  They are subject to failure…and lots of it.  For teens and pregnancy, condoms fail approximately 20 percent of the time.

Condoms are never fail-safe.  They have no documented effectiveness in preventing humanpapilloma virus (HPV) infections, the virus responsible for over 97 percent of cervical cancer. Genital herpes viruses infect one in five people over the age of twelve… partly owing to the fact that they live on body areas not covered by the condom.  These are just a few of the realities that never touch Bond.

Hollywood profits from building the illusion that Bond will never die…from anything.  This makes for great movies.  But in our hearts, we know the truth.

We know it’s an illusion when we see 007 dodging a hail of bullets, skiing off the top of the Alps and landing with a downhill swoosh of grace, sailing down the slope, around the trees, and over the rocks…his hair unmessed and his body unsmashed.

In bed, the illusions are no less spectacular. Bond has been allowed to dodge STDs, pregnancy and abortion through ignorant movie “madness.”

Illusions make great movies.  But they are deadly in real life.

No doubt about it.  If you want to Never Say Die, take note.  Bond is a great thrill to watch.  But he is no role model for living a life in the real world…on the slopes…in space…or under the sheets.

 

April 30, 2004:  Condoms: A Failure to Protect

 Question:  Did James Bond ever marry?

Answer:  Come back next week for the answer…

See Archives for past editorials.

Blinded by Love

Jane Jimenez

Jane Jimenez

June 11, 2004

America’s love affair with the condom…it’s like a bad love affair where the lover cheats on us time and again.  After each betrayal, we get a tearful apology and renewed promises…only to take up with the same bad lover and walk into the same tired lies again.

Condoms are nothing new.  They have been traced back to 1350 BC when ancient Egyptian tribesmen used sheaths to protect themselves against infection, injury and insect bits.  Cave paintings dated 100-200 AD in southern France provide the earliest evidence of European condom use.

Almost thirty years after cultivation of the rubber tree began in the 1870s, the Durex trademark was first registered.  By 1993, annual production of natural latex condoms reached a total of 8.5 billion units.

Like all consumer products, condoms are tested, and reports on their reliability have been carried in the trusted Consumer Reports.  It’s enough to make the average person accept with calm assurance that if we sell enough condoms, we can make America safe.  So how safe are we…really?

In 1982, a major crisis ushered in the modern “age of the condom.”  Previously used to prevent pregnancies, condoms became the only available weapon against the dark unknown threat of the HIV virus.

From the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the promises of condoms were measured against our fears of the unknown…HIV.  No one was certain exactly how it spread:  kissing, sharing drinking cups, public swimming pools, and gym locker rooms?

One thing was certain.  HIV virus was spread through sexual contact, and we grabbed the nearest band-aid…the condom.  It was better than nothing.  The real question today after thirty years of condom use is, “How much better than nothing?”

Modern risk management analysts make a living out of telling us how many times on the average we can safely ski, climb rocks, and fly in airplanes before we die.

What if you knew you had a 20% chance of dying every time you got into your family car?  Well, when talking about pregnancy and teenagers, condoms have a greater than 20% FAILURE rate in preventing pregnancy.

What if you knew you had an unlimited chance of getting infected with the disease that leads to death by cervical cancer?  Well, when talking about condoms, there is no clinical proof that condoms prevent HPV infection if you have sex with a person infected with the humanpapilloma virus (HPV).  This virus causes over 97% of cervical cancer which kills more women each year than AIDS.

What if you knew that, no matter how many condoms you’ve used during your life, genital herpes and HPV virus live on the human body outside areas covered by the condom?  Is it any wonder that one in five people over the age of 12 today are infected with genital herpes and that one million Americans acquire genital herpes infection each year?

Finally, consider those who promise parents that children can be taught to use condoms “consistently and correctly.”  Really?

Major international HIV studies have proven that even when married couples knew they might pass the HIV virus to their uninfected spouse, these couples failed to use condoms consistently and correctly every time they had sex.  These adults actually chose to expose their spouse to the deadly AIDS disease.  Can we really believe our children will do better than this?

Is this the stuff love is made of?  Twenty percent risk of pregnancy?  Unlimited risk of HPV infection leading to cervical cancer?  A life with an incurable genital herpes infection?  If the airlines operated with risks like these, who would ever get on a plane?

The truth is, condoms are like bad lovers…a few good times followed by pain and suffering.  Condoms have been around for thousands of years, and for thousands of years people still knew the best place for sex was inside a loving, monogamous and faithful marriage.  It’s an old message, and it’s still a true message.

There’s a day of reckoning for every bad love affair, a day when we declare the end to lies and deceit.  When will we be ready to declare the truth about condoms?  How about today?

 

See Archives for past editorials.

 April 30, 2004:  Condoms: A Failure to Protect

AIDS: Importing the Cure

Jane Jimenez

Jane Jimenez

June 4, 2004

Stephen Langa knows about AIDS and failure firsthand.  And that’s why he also knows about success.

Stephen is from Uganda.  The devastation of the African continent by AIDS is personal: his own younger brother died.  Stephen works in the schools where hundreds of thousands of children experience the loneliness of life without parents.  To date, nearly two million Uganda children are orphans because of AIDS.

It takes looking failure full in the face to be able to appreciate success.  And that’s why Stephen came from Uganda to visit the United States.  He brings us a story of success:  Uganda alone in the world is turning the tide in the battle against AIDS.

“I come from Uganda,” Stephen tells his audience, “and HIV has devastated our continent and our country.  In Uganda, especially in the early 90s we had whole villages wiped out, where the entire adult population was wiped out….Everyone of us in Uganda has either been infected or affected by HIV.”

Responding to the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic, Stephen left his career in electrical engineering and founded Family Life Network, an organization that sends teachers into the high schools to teach young people one simple message.

All over Uganda, teachers are working to prevent HIV infection “by teaching what we call value-based sex education in secondary school,” Stephen says.  “Now, by value-based we mean sex education that has morals in it.  That’s what we teach.”

The message is as simple as ABC.  “A” stands for a personal commitment to abstain from sexual relationships until a person is ready for marriage.  “B” stands for fidelity inside of marriage…”B” faithful.  Finally, “C” refers to condom use.

But Stephen warns us about America’s reliance on the condom.  “Condoms are not 100% safe.  You see, human life is precious….Now if there’s a chance of failure, it means we are risking precious life.  A life is priceless. So we want to have something that can actually protect our people.”

And this is where Uganda has set the standard for the world, becoming a beacon light of hope against the rising tide of AIDS infection.  Uganda is committed to A and B.  Totally committed.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his wife Janet provide the national leadership and tone for their country by emphasizing the value of time-honored Uganda cultural practices.  They have inspired the Ugandan people to return to abstinence and marital fidelity.

Under their leadership, the commitment of a child toward abstinence until marriage is given dignity and support.  Students sign commitment cards, and their name on the line is more than a momentary gesture to please a teacher.  It is a personal promise they are willing to keep.

Why do students in Uganda honor their pledge to remain sexually abstinent outside of marriage?  Stephen tells us it’s more than their fear of becoming infected with HIV.  “We go out there and we teach these young people about sexuality.  And we found out that if you teach sexuality and teach young people about sexuality in relationship to all of life, then they understand it.  They see the big picture.  When you see it from the big picture point of view, they understand it and they behave.”

The results are in.  Uganda has demonstrated a cure for the AIDS epidemic.  In the early 1990s Uganda had one of the worst African AIDS infection rates, but by 2001 Uganda had reduced HIV by 70 percent.

Cambridge researchers confirm that Uganda’s success is “linked to a 60% reduction in casual sex.”  And they confirm Stephen’s warnings about condoms.  “Despite substantial condom use and promotion of biomedical approaches, other African countries have shown neither similar behavioral responses nor HIV prevalence declines of the same scale.  The Ugandan success is equivalent to a vaccine of 80% effectiveness.”

Americans, take note.  While our companies are loading crates filled with condoms onto ships bound for Africa, Stephen makes us realize that America is exporting failure.  It’s time to make a change.

Is there a cure for AIDS?  Yes!  And Americans have the answer within reach, imported straight from Uganda.

 

See Archives for past editorials.

April 30, 2004:    Condoms: A Failure to Protect

March 26, 2004:    Abstinence: The Real Deal

Condoms: A Failure to Protect

April 30, 2004

Apparently, there are not enough condoms in America’s schools.  And there is a group intent on fixing the problem.

They will soon introduce the “Putting Prevention First Act” in Congress.  Prevention first?  Promoting condoms?  Where have these people been during the past ten years?

They need to check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  In June 2000, the CDC worked with experts from around the country to examine all major research on condom effectiveness.  The results of this study exploded the claims that condoms are a “safe sex” approach.

In fact, the CDC study detailed a long history of condoms and their failure to protect.  It finally nailed down the facts that document why we are in the midst of a raging epidemic of STDs.  For one thing, virus and bacteria live on the body outside areas covered by the condom.  Even the body contact required to put on a condom can spread STD infections.

Condoms, even if used consistently and correctly, fail to secure the health of our children.  Don’t take my word for it.

Ask the CDC.  Their fact sheet spells it out, “No protective method is 100 percent effective, and condom use cannot guarantee absolute protection against any STD.”

Today, serious and lifelong STD infections run rampant.  One such STD, human papilloma virus (HPV) is the primary cause for over 99% of all cervical cancer.  What does that mean to you and your children?

More women die each year from cervical cancer than from AIDS.  Cervical cancer occurs in approximately 13,000 women every year in the United States, and kills almost 5,000 American women yearly.  Many of these are young women…in the prime of their life…mothers who leave behind husbands and children.

Five to six million Americans become infected with genital HPV every year. Twenty million Americans are currently infected with the virus, and another 80 million have been infected at some time in the past. This means that 75 percent of sexually active Americans are or have previously been infected.

HPV is only the first STD on a very long list of failures of the condom to protect the health of sexually active people.  Certainly, Americans need prevention.  And we need it now.  But what exactly is “prevention”?

Ask the CDC.  They spell it out on their fact sheet.  “The surest way to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases is to abstain from sexual intercourse, or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and you know is uninfected.”

We have had over thirty years of condom education, condom distribution and condom reassurance.  One organization promoting condoms to our children received over $240 million dollars from the government in 2001-2002 and expended $40.7 million for sex education.

Today, do we need to throw good money after bad?  Do we need really need more government money to teach our children the intricacies of using a condom that will fail to protect them?

Sure.  Let’s put prevention first.  But anyone who is serious about sex and prevention will not be fooled into wishful thinking about condoms.  They will stand for truth.  Research proves that condoms do not offer the kind of protection that will keep our children safe.

If we really believe prevention comes first, we will take the time to get our facts straight.  And we will deliver the facts in an uncompromising message that our children hear.

Prevention first, second, third and fourth means exactly one thing.  Healthy sex belongs inside a marriage commitment between two people who will love each other for a lifetime.

See April 2, 2004:  Sex Education: Spinning the Truth