AIDS and the condom con job

By Geoff Adlide

THE western condom culture is a “con” which should not be encour aged in the Pacific, according to Tongan Bishop Patelisio Finau.

“Do we have to be satisfied with giving our people the lethal rubbish of western civilisation, and sit back and watch them become addicts of the permissive society

with just a bit of rubber between themselves and death? For God’s sake and for the love of our people, No!”

Bishop Finau told delegates to the South Pacific Conference in Noumea in late October.

Delegates took time out from their deliberations on the work of the South Pacific Commission to hear guest speakers address the theme, AIDS: A challenge to our Pacific Island communities.

The latest figures compiled by the SPC show 63 cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have been reported in eight Pacific Island countries.

A further 151 people have been diag nosed as having the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which can lead to AIDS. But World Health Organisation officials say that because of poor reporting facilities, the real num bers are certainly considerably higher.

“The incidence of AIDS in the Pacific may be slight by world standards but it makes us aware that we are already part of a world epidemic.” Bishop Finau said.

“There is no call for panic, but there is a need for everyone to make a serious appraisal of the situation and to take whatever steps may be necessary to deal with present and future eventualities.

“The safe sex approach does not get at the cause of the problem. We are just wrapping up this problem in a little

Condoman’s condoms: good or bad?

package for easier distribution. Condoms have probably done more to contribute to the spread of the permissive society than anything else. A whole generation has grown up believing you can do what you like as long as you are wearing a bit of rubber. Right or wrong are no longer issues, the only thing that is important is

my pleasure.

“Condoms take the responsibility out of human life and when this happens we cease to be human. Is a regular condom user going to change his ways just because he left his condoms in his other trousers? Sooner or later, or probably sooner than later, he is going to take a risk because he has never learnt self control.”

The Bishop said the answer was to build a society based on sound morality and to advocate discipline and self control. “But encourage a permissive society in the Pacific with the western

condom culture a con culture really and you are courting not

only physical

death, but also the death of the spirit of people.”

Bishop Finau

made a strong ap peal for the pro-

tection of the human rights ol people with AIDS. “Because of ignorance and irrational fear, there can be a stigma and discrimination against AIDS patients and their families. Many people die of loneliness before they die of AIDS,” he said. “AIDS sufferers are human beings, they are our brothers and sisters who deserve our love, care and compassion.”

An appeal was made for women to be actively recruited into campaigns. “We all know that most Pacific women have been socialised into roles of passivity, especially those related to their repro ductive and social roles,” Dr Konai Helu Thaman, of the University of the South Pacific, said. “Give women a chance.

Listen to their views. Listen especially to their silences.

'“Today, in our Pacific islands, we can no longer use culture as an excuse for inaction. Rather we ought to use culture as a privilege that enables us to move

meaningfully towards appropriate pro

grammes to prevent the spread of AIDS.

For AIDS is not really the main problem we are facing it is only the symptom of a bigger problem: human beings’ inability to maintain a healthy society in the face of modernisation.” □

Bishop Finau