The District of Columbia Department of Health is now distributing Trojan condoms as well as Durex condoms, including the super-size Magnum variety.  So one can conclude, according to the DC HIV/AIDS administration, that the problem is not that youth are having sex, but that they are not using condoms enough.  However, there is no data to support this approach.  No program anywhere in the world has ever succeeded in increasing the rate of condom use throughout the general population.  Researcher Ed Green has done important work in this area .  Condom distribution in the District increased from 600,0000 in 2007 to 3.2 million in 2009.  Yet at the same time, the rate of HIV infection increased by 9.2 per cent.  So it appears that there is a correlation between more condoms being distributed and higher HIV infection rates.  Ed Green found the same effect in his research in Africa; using condoms seems to give a false sense of security.  Countries with the highest rate of condom use also have the highest rates of HIV infection.  Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa have the highest rate of condom distribution, and also the highest rate of HIV infection (20 percent to 35 percent among males ages 15 to 49)

Although 42 percent of DC high school students report never having had sex, and 69 percent have not had sex within the previous three months, the District does not spend any money to increase the number of youth who are abstaining from sex.  It is noteworthy that, without any help from the Health Department, 21 per cent more youth are now abstaining than 14 years ago.  It makes sense to encourage this positive trend.

An article in the Washington Post on condom distribution cites Councilmember David Catania’s Youth Sexual Health Project, which I have written about before.  The beginning of the report cites Canadian Health Education Guidelines:

“Sexuality encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy, and reproduction.  Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behavior, practices, roles, and relationships.”

A proposed sexual health education curriculum for 7th to 12th grade instructs youth to view art that includes homo-erotic art by Jessica Walker.   It is interesting to note that parents were not included as one of the three groups that were interviewed to determine attitudes toward sexuality. Instead, youth, school nurses and health providers were interviewed.

It is time for David Catania to step aside, especially in light of the failure of leadership on HIV prevention.  The Youth Sexual Health Project report, which appears to be the impetus for the addition of the new condom brands, makes it clear that Mr. Catania’s focus is on encouraging acceptance of various sexual expressions and lifestyles, not on promoting what is in the best interest of the youth of the District of Columbia, which is risk avoidance by sexual abstinence outside of marriage. 

In my experience, parents overwhelmingly support the promotion of sexual abstinence as the best choice for their children.  The Youth Sexual Health Project report and the resulting recommendation to give out even more types of condoms show how out of touch Mr. Catania is with the majority of DC parents and voters.