Murder, rape, defilement, theft and robbery are bad. Religiously, individuals in society are passionately admonished not to be involved in them. In nation building and as a form of social control, murder, rape, defilement, theft, and robbery are emphatically included in criminal law provisions as examples of heinous crimes or felony. Individuals in the jurisdiction of any state are therefore restrained, lawfully, from indulging in them or face punitive sanctions when found culpable. There is no room for excuse as these legal sanctions or taboos are enforced strictly except in the case of, for example, murder where there is a strong evidence of self-defence.

At the kindergarten or crèche, young children or babies are caringly coached to recite the 26 English Alphabets comprising A, B, C, D… up to Z. As simple as its recital may appear, it is the basis of proficiency in the English language. Without them words and sentences can never be formed or constructed. Children are therefore taught at their very early stages in order not to be found wanting when speaking or writing in the English language at school, work place, social gathering or home, almost throughout their lifetime. Interestingly, ABC method has been employed as one of the surest ways of fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is subtly consuming human life almost in all countries. A, B and C respectfully denotes abstinence, being faithful and condom. This article argues that while A and B are apposite, citing C is condoning and further creating crises in our quest to conquer the disease.

IS IT RELIGOIOUS OR SCIENTIFIC DOGMATISM?

Religiously, premarital sex, fornication and adultery should under no circumstance be encouraged or tolerated since they affront the commandments of God. Beside, they are the breeding grounds for unexpected pregnancy, illegal abortion, broken relationships, broken hearts etc with their attendant problems. Those who hold this view are christened religious dogmatists but is that really the case?

Scientific research has proved that condom usage is one of the very few proven measures to prevent HIV infections. What these scientific findings have woefully failed to address is the inability to reveal the adverse impact of the usage of condom. Unfortunately, the C method has today dominated the campaign on the prevention of HIV/AIDS without seriously questioning its repercussions on the youth, probably because scientists say it is one of the good approaches. Is this also not scientific dogmatism? In Ghana and for that matter Africa, the usage of condom has received not only exaggerated publicity but also it is patronised ignorantly.

In 2001 alone Ghana for example ordered one million female condoms from the United Nations Population Fund through Female Health Company. As if this was not enough, the Ghana AIDS commission (GAC) launched and distributed 5,000 condoms at no cost to hotels that accommodated the 2008 African Cup of Nation`s guests in Ghana (Nigeria`s Vanguard, Jan 14, 2008) with the aim of reducing the spread of HIV during the tournament. The GAC`s “campaign… (urged) both men and women to take ADVANTAGE of the condoms” (Emphasis is mine). Clearly, the campaign placed no or little emphasis on abstinence and faithfulness. Ghana sponsored the usage of condoms by the ‘guests’ without educating them on our avowed ethical values: chastity and purity. Perhaps, GAC realised the contradiction in preaching abstinence and faithfulness on one hand and promoting the usage of condoms on the other hand. Is GAC not condoning the crises? Sadly, students continue to freely

receive condoms as gifts from the very agencies or persons who are admonishing them to eschew premarital sex. This is the apex of hypocrisy.

IS THE USE OF CONDOM THE ANSWER?

Certainly not! Awareness of the disease (and the promotion of the usage of condom) are said to be on the increase but the rapid rise in HIV/AIDS incidence appears to be continuing (credit: Ghana AIDS Commission’s webpage, Aug. 24, 2009). According to United States’s Aid Organisation (USAIDS), about 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV (Associated Press, Mar. 2001). Ghana’s HIV/AIDS Sentinel Surveys in 2002 pointed out that HIV prevalence rate in Ghana was 3.4%, which increased in 2003 (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, Feb. 2004). By the year 2008, however, the prevalent rate stood at 1.7 percent. More than 300,000 HIV cases were recorded form 2005 to 2006 including 21,828 cases involving children at the age 14 and below. The 2006 HIV Sentinel Report reveals that 88% of all HIV positive cases in Ghana involve persons below age 35. According to Ghana Health service, 2004, 80% of all HIV/AIDS infections are through heterosexual contact.

Research indicates that African is the most youthful region in the world, with 41% of the population under the age of 15. The above HIV/AIDS statistics reveal that the youth are mostly affected. In what way are we training or educating the youth such that when they grow they will not depart from it? Are the youth being told that premarital sex or adultery is not good but they can use condom if they still want to? Certainly, this is no solution since the youth have not found it to be useful. This is because there is no evidence stating that the use of condom has plummeted the upsurge of the disease. Indeed, it is high time the youth are told the dangers inherent in the use of condoms. They must be assured that self-control is possible, abstinence is the best and that no condom can shield them from the mental, emotional and spiritual consequences of ephemeral sexual intercourse.

USING CONDOM IS CRAETING CRISES

Some scientists tell us that condom is one of the methods of preventing HIV/AIDS infections. However, while there is no adverse effect in adhering to the abstinence and faithfulness methods, the usage of condom has proved to be very cataclysmic.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, in an analysis of 11 different studies, found that condoms on the average failed 31% of the time to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. Susan Weller, reporting on this finding in Social and Medicine

(June 1993) has that stated;”it is a disservice to encourage the belief that condoms will prevent sexual transmission of HIV.” In the November 1997 edition of the Italian journal, Medicine and Morals, Jacques Suaudeau, a physician, reports that “the risks of contracting an HIV infection while (using) condom is at least 10 to 15%”, based on his review of 88 studies. Medical studies also show that condom provide little or no protection against what are now classified as the two most common sexually transmitted infections (STI`s): Human Papilloma Virus (HPV, the cause of virtually all cervical cancer) and Chlamydia (which, if undetected, can lead pelvic inflammatory disease, scaring of the fallopian tubes and consequent inability to conceive a child). In addition, medical experts have pointed out that there are tiny spores in condoms and that low quality and expired condoms can rip or tear during sexual intercourse.

Furthermore, the use of condom has never been able to take away the psychological and spiritual repercussion of uncommitted sex which include: the worry about pregnancy and STI`s, emotional upheavals associated with unexpected pregnancy, the stress of premature parenthood, the impact on education and career if one undertakes the financial and other moral responsibilities of parenthood and the trauma and the aftermath of abortion if the pregnancy is aborted. The use of condom cannot prevent or heal the feeling of regret and self-recrimination that usually follows a broken sexual relation, the feeling of being used, lost of self control and the consequent lost of self-respect, the shaken trust and fear of commitment in future relationship, the rage over betrayal, sometimes leading to violence; the depression, sometimes leading to suicide, the ruined relationship, the debasement of sex and the sense of having sinned against God`s law and jeopardised one`s soul.

CONCLUSION

Light and darkness are not friends. There is no excuse for theft, robbery and intentional killing. Fornication and adultery are immoral and the use of condom cannot purify them neither can it prevent or control their grim consequences. Promotion of condom has only incited many people, especially the youth, to indulge in promiscuity thereby watering down the need for faithfulness to one`s spouse and sexual abstinence on the part of the adolescent. STI`s including HIV/AIDS are less prevalent in societies were infidelity and premarital sex are shunned and discouraged. Africa needs these methods and nothing less.

Richard Obeng Mensah;borncapy@yahoo.com, author of Persecutions are Promotions and If You Think of Your Opposition You Lose Your Position. He is also the 2009 National Best Student Author/Writer.