The following are some bullet points for National Condom Week, February 14-21:

1. The hottest thing in the world and in the US and reasons for using condoms are:

a. We now have a new resistant gonorrhea strain now appearing in Hawaii, California and Asia
b. The standard mainline treatment for gonorrhea calls for a single dose therapy using one of two classes of antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, like Ciprofloxacin and Ofloxacin, and the Cephalosporins, Cefixime and Ceftriaxone.
c. Resistance to Fluoroquinolones is now found in 60--80% of cases in some East Asian countries and 20% of those cases in Hawaii
d. Gonorrhea can be prevented by the use of condoms; however condoms are not increasing in sales and this is a major issue

2. Some insurance companies are now paying for condoms in the prevention of STDs and AIDS.

3. Condoms are effective in preventing transmission of HIV/AIDS.

4. One of the major controversies of the Bush administration is the criticism that politics from the Bush administration prompted the CDC to delete a condom fact sheet from its official government website.

5. Message from Bush administrative is to increase abstinence.

6. Condoms will decrease pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

7. In adolescents and teens, 13% have an STD called Chlamydia which can result in sterility at a later age if gone untreated.

a. Chlamydia is the most prevalent reported STD in the US - about 3 million new cases are diagnosed every year. A recent study of female US Army recruits found 90% of the women tested positive for Chlamydia infections with symptoms that were non existent in 75% of the cases.

8. The rate of syphilis rose in the US last year for the first time in more than a decade.

9. This rise in syphilis which can be prevented by the use of a condom is largely due to a series of outbreaks among gay and bisexual men according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

10. There were 2.2 cases of primary and secondary syphilis reported for every 100,000 people in 2001 up from 2.1 cases per 100,000 in 2000.

11. CDC says this was an increase of 2%.

12. One in five Californian students will have some type of STD before they get out of college.

13. The Bush administration wants to spend millions on abstinence causes but not everyone thinks this is such a good idea since the CDC rates are climbing.

a. The CDC's 2002 fact sheet on male condoms and STDs is causing public health problems as parts of it were reworded or eliminated to focus on abstinence and downplayed the efficacy of latex condoms.

14. The Bush administration is influencing public health standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for condom use and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

15. The 27th Annual National Condom Week, February 14-21, 2003 and its originators have deep concerns over the new "abstinence only policy" set by the Bush administration on the CDC website.

16. The National Condom Week Committee is disturbed that the administration is pursuing what appears to be an ideological agenda at the risk of endangering public health.

With more than 20 million people in the world who could be infected with the AIDS virus by 2005 a much needed focus on prevention and education by the Bush administration and CDC in the prevention of not only AIDS but STDs and genital herpes is clearly needed.

a. Today at least 50 million Americans, 1 out of 4, have genital herpes, and most cases remain undiagnosed. Genital herpes infections are most often transmitted by individuals unaware that they are infected or who are asymptomatic at the time of transmission.
b. Condoms are reasonably effective (approximately 90% in the reduction of transmission of genital herpes)
c. The rise in genital herpes and the cost of new infections could rise from $1.8 billion in 2000 to over $2.7 billion in 2025.

The virus that causes genital herpes has been found to act as an another virus known to cause cervical cancer. Some of these human papilloma viruses (HPV) are a major cause of cervical cancer.

This disease killed an estimated 4400 women in the US last year.

This disease can be prevented by the use of condoms for herpes, simplex virus Type 2(HSP-2).

The answer to many of these public health issues is to increase education and awareness on the use of condoms.

CDC cites a two year European study of discordant couples (one member is infected with HIV and the other is not). Of the 124 couples reporting consistent use of condoms, none of the uninfected partners became infected. By contrast, of the 120 couples who did not use condoms every time, 12 of the uninfected partners became infected.

For more information contact:

Pharmacists Planning Service, Inc. (PPSI)
Phone (415) 479-8628
Fax (415)479-8608
e-mail: ppsi@aol.com