Condom adverts deemed too explicit

The campaign to combat HIV/AIDS in Zambia hit a snag this week when the state-broadcaster pulled condom advertisements, deemed too explicit by the government, off the air. Church leaders from the Christian Council of Zambia, a powerful lobby group comprising a number of influential churches, had protested loudly that anti-AIDS campaign material aired in recent months by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) was misguided and encouraged promiscuity. The government itself appeared divided over the issue. Health Minister Enoch Kavindele last week urged Christian leaders to "face reality" over the extent of the AIDS epidemic, but Education Minister Godfrey Miyanda backed the clergy. President Frederick Chiluba, who in 1991 declared Zambia a Christian nation, controversially said that he felt the use of condoms was a sign of lax morals. The decision by ZNBC to cancel the advertisements - bowing, the company said, to public sentiment - has been sharply criticised by anti-aids campaigners. Masauso Nzima, country coordinator for the UK-based AIDS Alliance told IRIN on Thursday that it appeared that "people do not know how badly hit this country is by HIV/AIDS". He added: "Condoms are one of the major ways of preventing the spread of AIDS and I think they should not be dismissed just like that without as much as an offer of an alternative." An estimated 20 percent of Zambian adults are HIV-positive. According to the government’s own figures, more than 700,000 people have died from AIDS-related causes since the early 1980’s, and more than 650,000 children have been orphaned. Currently, between 25,000 to 30,000 children are born with HIV/AIDS, while 7 out of every 10 childern in this category are not expected to celebrate their fifth birthday. Acknowledging cultural taboos over open discussion of sex, Nzima said he believed the condom outcry has largely been due to the fact that the commercials had been aired during prime time, "when parents are having dinner with their children. Perhaps the timing has been wrong but even then, I believe there’s a thing called parental guidance." The church has urged abstinence as a solution to the AIDS epidemic. A message endorsed by Chiluba, a born-again Christian, who has argued that condoms promote casual sex instead of monogamy. On Tuesday, Miyanda said condoms were not a guarantee against HIV transmission and urged Zambians to sue manufacturers in cases where condoms had failed. Nils Gade, chief executive for the Zambian Society for Family Health which markets a brand of condoms called 'Maximum' for men and 'Care' for women, pointed out that the UN AIDS programme UNAIDS has "endorsed the condom as the most effective way of avoiding AIDS ... especially for many Zambians who do not know their status, whether they are positive or negative." However, a compromise appears to have been reached in the dispute. Gade’s organisation is now working on revised television commercials to be aired next week that are less "aggressive", he told IRIN. "We are worried about the severe AIDS situation here. The fact that people, especially teenagers, are having [unprotected] sex is even sadder, but we have revised the advertisement to include a component of abstinence which the detractors say must be encouraged"