USA Today Examines Controversies Surrounding HIV/AIDS Prevention; Presidential Candidates Differ in Approaches
USA Today on Thursday examined some of the controversies surrounding HIV/AIDS prevention and the differences between President Bush's and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's (Mass.) proposals for preventing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The "tension between science and ideology" has become a major component in the presidential campaign, with Bush and Kerry disagreeing about the effectiveness of condom use in preventing HIV, according to USA Today. Bush believes that condoms are not always the best method to prevent the spread of HIV, and he and his congressional allies have supported funding for groups that promote the "virtues of abstinence," USA Today reports. Kerry has alleged that Bush "puts ideology ahead of science" by requiring government-funded HIV prevention groups to point out condom failure rates in their education programs, according to USA Today. Kerry has said he supports programs that emphasize abstinence and monogamy but also discuss condom use as a way to prevent HIV transmission (Sternberg, USA Today, 10/28). The complete article is available online.
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