Despite the pope not yet taking a position as to whether married couples can use condoms when one partner is infected with HIV/AIDS, his followers are standing up and speaking out. Claiming it just makes common sense to lift this ban under the specific circumstances, Scotland’s Archbishop of Glasgow publicly stated his support for the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers’ “study on the use of condoms to fight AIDS.” Others in the Catholic Church urging the pope to lead on this issue include: Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the retired archbishop from Milan, Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels and Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan of Mexico. Summarizing it best, Jon Fuller, a Jesuit AIDS physician, states "Ever since the AIDS epidemic came on the scene, we recognize that what's at issue in this case is not simply preventing conception but actually saving life."

 
Ending a five-day conference on HIV intervention, religious leaders in Botswana “have resolved to preach abstinence as it was the only strategy that was 100 per cent safe” in the fight against HIV/AIDS. A shockingly irresponsible position to take given the reality that this country is one having been hardest hit by the disease.

On the other hand, when leaders lead, great things happen.

Africa, at long-last, is seeing the fruits of its labor regarding reproductive health efforts. “Many young Africans are losing their virginity later, having fewer sexual partners and using more condoms — signs that the campaign against AIDS is finally hitting home.” In a Reuters interview at an AIDS Summit in Nigera, UNAIDS chief Peter Piot explained that five years after African leaders declared the disease an emergency on of the poorest continent in the world, behavior is changing for the better.

And, a brief update on the Women and the Economic Recovery of Africa conference. Baleka Mbete, Speaker of South Africa’s National Assembly, opened the conference with sobering news: “…half of Africa's population survives on less US$1 per day, and 80% of the continent's poor are women.” During the next several days conference participants will address policies that will promote gender equality within the continent, as well as protect African women.

More of the same: religious leaders enjoy discussions in their Ivory Castles, while the people in developing countries hardest hit by HIV are making a difference.