“Condoms promise safe sex, but the safest sex is through faithfulness to one’s partner. Prevention is always better than cure,” he said.
The New York Times had cited the minister as saying he would like to see a change in the way that the government promotes awareness about AIDS and HIV, with more emphasis on “promoting the integrity of the sexual relationship between husband and wife”, which he said was “part of our culture”.
“The thrust of the AIDS campaign should not only be on the use of condoms. This sends the wrong message that you can have any kind of illicit sexual relationship, but as long as you’re using a condom, it’s fine,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Vardhan, who is currently in the United States on an official visit, said sections of media have distorted his statements and an impression is being created he has misgivings about the efficacy of condoms or has moral problems with it.
“Any experienced NGO activist knows that condoms sometimes break while being used. This is why the government campaigns in India, whether through the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) or the state governments, should focus on safe sex as a holistic concept which includes highlighting the role of fidelity to partners,” he said in a statement issues by the health ministry.
He went on to add that his statement on informing people on the supremacy of fidelity as an AIDS prevention measure is not only a piece of culture advice but also a scientific one.
The minister said the stand taken by him on being loyal to one’s partner has been adopted by several countries in their fight against AIDS.
“For the past two decades, I have been stressing the need for safe sex using a combination of condoms and discipline which is in line with the Abstinence-Be Faithful-Condom (ABC) line of UNAIDS which has yielded great success in Uganda and now forms part of the anti-AIDS campaigns of several countries,” he said.
But many public health activists said the health minister’s statement amounted to moral policing. “He is essentially pushing the RSS agenda,” said an activist.
