Using A Condom Is Like Playing Russian Roulette
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| Fact:1 | Latex condoms can have naturally occurring holes which are at least 50 times larger and up to 500 times larger than the AIDS virus. (1) (2) |
| Fact:2 | In semen, HIV can be cell-free (not within a cell but free within seminal fluid) or cell-associated (within a cell). (3) |
| Fact:3 | "Direct contact with semen is the primary means of sexual transmission of HIV. (4) (5) The free virus exists in the seminal fluid, (6) (7) at concentrations as high as 108 viral particles per ml. (8) HIV is also found in sperm-free pre-ejaculatory fluid obtained from HIV-positive men." (9) (10) (11) |
| Fact:4 | More than one million HIV-sized particles pass through a square centimetre of rubber within 30 minutes. (12) This is a rate of over 33,000 particles/minute, nearly 560/second. It is unknown how few HIV viruses are needed for infection to occur. (13) |
| Fact:5 | Levels of cell-free HIV in semen can vary considerably. The quantity of cell-free HIV ranges from a few hundred to a million per ml of infected semen. (14) |
| Fact:6 | Each act of sex produces about 3.3 ml of semen. (15) |
| Fact:7 | SIV, the monkey version of HIV, is similar to HIV (16) (17) (19) and SIV models are recognised by UNAIDS. (18) |
| Fact:8 | When SIV is transmitted to the vagina, cell-free SIV is 10,000 times more efficient at infecting via the vagina than cell-associated SIV. (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (17) |
| Fact:9 | There are high viral loads at all stages of HIV illness and viral loads increase 7-fold during the progress of the disease. (19) |
| Fact:10 | "HIV tests cannot detect very low levels of HIV. Even if the test fails to detect HIV, undetected levels of HIV is not equivalent to being rid of HIV disease. Patients could still be infectious and can still risk transmission." (24) |
| Fact:11 | Some individuals become infected after a single or just a few sexual contacts. (17) (25) (26) |
There are some, using research by Levy, (27) (28) who maintain that most HIV in semen is not cell-free but is within potentially infectious lymphocytes (white blood cells) which cannot pass through an intact condom.
It would appear that Gupta (19) disproves Levy because, in complete contradiction to Levy is the overwhelming evidence that cell-free virus is vaginally 10,000 times more infectious than cell-associated. (19) (20) This is also confirmed by Miller who conducted the 1992 research in this area (19) and who stated in 1998, "cell-free virus is more likely to be responsible for transmission during sexual contact". (17)
The following information will illustrate further why the promotion of condoms to help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS could be a seriously flawed policy and could even be a contributory factor in the spread of HIV. (43) (46)
Condoms can have at least a 15% failure rate (29) (46) for the average population of condom users while young teenagers can have a 20% or higher condom failure rate. (30) (46) These are, however, only pregnancy rates from condom failures.
Since women can only get pregnant during 5-7 days, (1/4) of their 28 day menstrual cycle, and cannot get pregnant during the other 21 days, these condom failure rates could be multiplied by four (31) to get the "overall failure rate" which gives at least a 60% failure rate for the average population of condom users and at least an 80% failure rate for young teenagers. Note that a woman’s ovum (egg) lives for only one day (12-24 hours) and dies if it is not fertilised within one day (32) and that sperm can only live for up to 72 hours. (32)
The British Journal of Family Planning quotes the results of a survey that over a period of only three months, 52% of respondents had experienced one or more condom either burst or slip-off during use. (33) When a condom splits, at least 1ml of seminal fluid is passed. (15)
Research, published by IPPF, also shows that HIV infection will eventually occur even when using condoms consistently and correctly. (34)
Hormonal contraceptives increase the risk 5-7 fold of becoming infected with multiple strains of HIV, (35) (36) (17) (37) (38) (39) (40) and the US Government shows that condoms may not stop many common STD’s. (41)
Those who use condoms take greater risks with their health and with the health of others. Dr Richens of University College London, Department of STDs states "condoms encourage risky behaviour", and that "increased condom use lead to more cases of condom failure [and] could account for poor success record of "safe-sex" campaigns". (42) (43)
For over 30 years now healthcare promoters in Britain have promised that teenage pregnancy rates will be cut once the public use more contraception, in particular, condoms. Britain has yet to see any evidence that the continuous policy of advocating the use of condoms, and other forms of contraception, is having that effect.
In Britain alone, since the 1967 Abortion Act, nearly 6,000,000 surgical abortions have taken place with approximately 180,000 abortions per year, 3,500 abortions per week. (44) On average, 1 in 4 women in Britain could have had an abortion.
If contraception is working why all the abortions? The truth is that contraception and value-free sex education just isn’t working.
Few who promote contraception trust the public enough, especially the young, to abstain from sex, but the evidence that abstinence education works is overwhelming. A national poll conducted for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America found that teens who had comprehensive sex education at school were 54% more likely to have had sex then teens with no sex education and 65% more likely to have had sex than teens who had abstinence-focused education. (45) (46)
A Harvard study shows that by promoting abstinence Uganda has reduced its HIV epidemic 50% in 8 years and achieved a drop in the rate of sexual partners from 18% in 1989 to 2.5% in 2000. (47)
Since latex condoms can have naturally occurring holes which are at least 50 times larger and up to 500 times larger than the AIDS virus, and since cell-free HIV could be 10,000 times more efficient at vaginal infection then cell-associated, and since each ml of semen potentially contains as many as one million cell-free particles, those who promote condoms have a duty to inform their clients of these facts and that clients have a right to this information which they need before giving consent to use a so called ‘health product’.
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Please Note:
Direct Link to Rubber World the leading magazine for the rubber industry - For a link to
CM Roland's article entitled : 'The barrier performance of latex rubber', click here .
CM Roland's article entitled : 'The barrier performance of latex rubber', can also be purchased from British Library Direct by clicking here .
Are the Vatican and other Christian organisations right to oppose condom use?
Should Christian organisations like Christian Aid, CAFOD, Worldvision oppose condom use?
Read more here. Doubts about Condoms
Read more here. Death on the Pill
Read more here. Contraceptive pill changes male fish sex.
Read more here. Health Risks from hormonal contraception.
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