Use of contraceptives

While leaving Jacqueline Calleja (January 23) to live peacefully in her own world of disastrous condoms and perfect plane engines, I urge whoever is following this issue to consider the following points.

Firstly, the percentage rate of failure of condoms is not, as she claims, "at least... five per cent". The Catholic Church (New Scientist, October 11, 2003) claims that condoms only work about 85 per cent of the time.

However, this includes the cases where the condom is handled badly, worn improperly or worn too late. If condoms are used properly, their rate of success rises to about 98 per cent. The fact that condoms fail 15 per cent of the time they are used indicates the necessity for more education, especially among youths.

Imposing beliefs on people and telling them to abstain from sex is neither morally right nor possible.

However, telling young people that condoms are ineffective encourages them to think that having sex with or without a condom doesn't make a bit of difference.

This, coupled with the teachings of the Catholic Church against the use of contraception has led not only to record levels of new AIDS cases but also to several other problems, such as rises in teenage pregnancy rates.

The people "involved in the campaign for the use of condoms" did a lot of outreach work teaching people about the dangers of STIs (sexually transmitted infections).

Encouraging the use of condoms and other similar contraceptives is the only realistic way of halting the spread of epidemics like AIDS.

Furthermore, encouraging people to use condoms when they have sex has nothing to do with encouraging promiscuity and discouraging abstinence.

Rather, it is more comparable to advising children to wear a life jacket whenever they go on a boat.