WASHINGTON, February 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the wake of a newly-released Centre for Disease Control (CDC) report on human papilloma virus (HPV), which revealed that condoms are not reliable in preventing the spread of this infection, US President George W. Bush announced a doubling of funding for the abstinence message. The CDC report revealed that HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection (STI) in America; 20,000,000 Americans currently have the infection, and new infections occur at a staggering rate of 5.5 million infections per year. The report also revealed that by age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. HPV is responsible for 12,000 cases of invasive cervical cancer and 4000 deaths per year. “HPV infection can occur in both male and female genital areas that are covered or protected by a latex condom,” the CDC findings warned. “The available scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend condoms as a primary prevention strategy,” the report continued. The report also revealed that “The surest way to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV, is to refrain from genital contact.”
In his State of the Union address Monday, President Bush announced a doubling of budget allocation—from $135 million to $270 million—on programs which encourage teens to abstain from sex.
Read the CDC HPV report at: https://www.cdc.gov/std/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm#reducerisk Read coverage of President Bush’s budget release at: https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4263864