Grappling with the Spread of AIDS in Africa

New York Times, June 13, 2005

Letter to the Editor

Re "In Africa, Life After AIDS" by David Brooks (column, June 9)

To the Editor:

We welcome Mr. Brooks's decision to travel to Namibia to see for himself the toll that AIDS is taking, especially on women. We share his passion about reaching people living with H.I.V. and AIDS with life-prolonging treatments.

But in his haste to declare a "recovery boom," Mr. Brooks denigrates prevention, saying that controversy about abstinence versus condoms is "nonsense," and "irrelevant on the ground."

If we neglect prevention, the need for treatment will exponentially increase.

We must invest in universal access to female and male condoms, comprehensive sexuality education and eradicating sexual coercion and violence against women. Anything less than that is nonsense.

ADRIENNE GERMAIN
President, International Women's Health Coalition
New York, June 9, 2005

Originally published in the New York Times, June 13, 2005. Reprinted with permission.