Sex, lies and latex: Study busts condom myth

Drawing the wrath of ‘safe-sex’ gurus, a Vatican expert shows the risk of relying on condoms to stop AIDS

By Jean-Marie Guenois

Father Jacques Suaudeau’s 37-page report, " ‘Safe Sex’ and the Condom, Faced with the Challenge of AIDS," has stirred controversy since its appearance in Medicina e Morale, an Italian journal published by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome.

Father Suaudeau, who worked as a surgeon in France and medical researcher in the United States before ordination, based his conclusions on some 136 different studies concerning condoms, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. "The epidemiological studies show that the condom certainly gives protection against contamination by the virus, but that this protection is far from absolute," he wrote.

"The possibility of contracting HIV using a condom during high-risk sexual relations stands at an average of 15-16 percent."

Father Suaudeau said the risk rises to 20-30 percent when the act is homosexual, when sexual promiscuity is high and when another sexually transmitted disease is involved.

Science only

It didn’t take long for the pro-condom community to react negatively to Father Suaudeau’s study.

If he were an agnostic "free thinker," perhaps his study would not have attracted so much attention. But his position at the Vatican adds a certain weight to his findings.

Nevertheless, Father Suaudeau’s report steers clear of any ethical considerations, never raising the contested question of whether or not the use of condoms is moral.

Instead, his study focuses on something much simpler: whether or not condoms are any good at preventing disease.

The Church, of course, opposes the use of condoms, along with other artificial birth control.

But as to whether it is permissible for condoms to be encouraged in the context of "safe-sex" campaigns involving populations (such as homosexuals and intravenous drug users) that already disregard Church teaching, the French bishops have suggested that the question is open and "nuanced."

They and some Vatican theologians have suggested that condoms could be considered a lesser evil to be permitted in preventing a greater evil: the spread of AIDS.

Father Suaudeau’s report, however, was for some a welcome departure from this debate, his arguments based not on theology but on reams of scientific research — including studies showing that condom use does not significantly lower the rate of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia.

Italian immunologist Ferdinando Aiuti, a major proponent of the use of condoms in fighting the spread of AIDS, responded to Father Suaudeau’s findings with a figure of his own: "Reliable studies on controlled couples in which one of the two is HIV-positive show that contagion is less than 1 percent."

The head of the Italian Anti-AIDS League, Vittorio Agnoletto, charged that Father Suaudeau’s study was a case of "ignorance and disinformation." Agnoletto placed the security of prophylactics at 98 percent if they are used correctly.

That’s a big "if," Father Suaudeau pointed out — one to bear in mind along with more fundamental problems such as leakage, breaks and degradation of the latex.

The priest immediately found himself engaged in a debate about how porous condoms are, but he said that isn’t the real question.

"It happens that sometimes there are channels [through which the virus can pass] because of irregularities in the latex," he said.

An Italian condom manufacturer, Hatu’ Ico of Bologna, claimed that was "technically impossible."

And Agnoletto claimed in the newspaper La Republica: "The virus can’t pass through the pores of the prophylactic because the diameter is larger, and thousands of studies show it."

While prophylactic companies promise that the microscopic pores in condoms don’t allow the transmission of the virus, Father Suaudeau said their testing was not sufficient.

"If you want to do real tests, you have to use microspheres, something the size of the virus," he explained. "Mechanical tests are not enough."

He pointed out that medical technicians dealing with substances containing HIV have been told to wear two pairs of gloves, one on top of the other.

Hatu’ Ico also made the rather remarkable claim that only one out of every 20,000 of its products is defective. It’s precisely those kinds of claims that Father Suaudeau has attempted to debunk with scientific research.

"All of a sudden, condoms became — for the groups fighting against AIDS and the politicians — a kind of absolute weapon," he wrote. "And questioning that became almost a kind of blasphemy."

The Pontifical Council for the Family often appears to be "blasphemous" in the eyes of the secular world, and Father Suaudeau is no different. He insists that the only really "safe sex" is in a faithfully monogamous marriage.

Best defense?

In his study, Father Suaudeau points out the multiple weaknesses of prophylactics one by one.

The failure of condoms in preventing pregnancy (defined as the probability of pregnancy in the course of a year for a woman who relies only on condoms for contraception) is between 5-30 percent, with an average of 15 percent.

He referred to 10 different studies concerning condoms and sexually transmitted diseases, concluding that they are highly effective for diseases due to bacteria, but weak or useless for those due to viruses or mycoplasma (a kind of intermediate between bacteria and viruses).

Father Suaudeau also looked at 19 different studies on the effectiveness of condoms on populations at risk in different parts of the globe, concluding that they reduce the risk of HIV transmission somewhat. But in 10-15 percent of all sexual acts, condoms fail to prevent the transmission of the AIDS-causing virus.

He looked at the overall AIDS figures in France, where 6,000 new AIDS cases are diagnosed each year, and concluded that the promotion of condoms has done little to stop the deadly problem.

"Despite strong campaigns in favor of condoms in the United States, France and the rest of Europe, there has been a continual increase in the number of AIDS cases in these countries since 1981," he wrote.

"If the prevention of HIV infection by the use of condoms had been effective, there would not be this epidemic that we see today, but rather a strong decrease or even the disappearance of AIDS."

Father Suaudeau concludes that using condoms to prevent AIDS is like playing Russian roulette: "The more someone multiplies his sexual experiences, convinced of the impunity given him by condoms, the greater the probability of contamination," he wrote. "In the end, it’s HIV that wins."

Even if the risk is "only" 10 percent, that’s too much, he said. "What would one say about a kind of airplane in which 10 percent of the flights ended up crashing?"

Father Suaudeau pointed out that, rather than emphasizing condoms, safe-sex gurus should be urging more important strategies on people, such as exercising prudence in the choice of sexual partners, limiting the number of contacts and, better yet, strict monogamy.

"The AIDS epidemic hasn’t been stopped by 16 years of information and distribution of condoms, and the failure of this strategy should be recognized," he said. "The only real, totally effective strategy is abstinence or faithful sexual relations within monogamous marriage."

Guenois writes from Rome

Copyright Our Sunday Visitor, 1997; from the 11-2-97 edition

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