Spat Over Condom Wrapper Wording

Label Debated In Argument Over STD Prevention

(AP)  Condoms do a great job of stopping the spread of AIDS and preventing pregnancy. But the evidence they protect against other sexually transmitted diseases is spotty, according to some conservative groups in the United States that want to make condom labels "medically correct."

A conservative senator and groups promoting abstinence from sex are even blocking appointment of a new U.S. drug agency chief until the labels are changed, while others warn that undermining confidence in condoms could lead to decline in their use and, consequently, to more unwanted pregnancies and the spread of AIDS.

"They do not provide 100 percent protection, but for people who are sexually active they are the best and the only method we have for preventing these diseases," said Heather Boonstra, an official with the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues.

Boonstra said Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, a physician from Oklahoma, and the abstinence-promoting Medical Institute for Sexual Health are "manipulating this data to drive home their own anti-condom, anti-contraceptive message."

James Trussell, a director of Princeton University's Office of Population Research, said there is "absolutely incontrovertible evidence" that condoms reduce transmission of AIDS.

"To my mind, everything else is gravy," Trussell said this week. "All of this is ideologically motivated. What they're really concerned about is people who are not married having sex."

John Hart, spokesman for Coburn, said that's not true. Hart said the senator's June 15 hold on Lester Crawford's nomination as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is an effort to make FDA change the condom labels to state their "effectiveness or lack of the effectiveness in preventing STDs."

Currently, the condom packets say: "If used properly, latex condoms will help to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV infection (AIDS) and many other sexually transmitted diseases." Many brands also state condoms are highly effective in preventing pregnancy.