Catholics and Condoms: Why What the Pope Says Matters

via The Body, by Jon O'Brien

During his 2009 trip to Cameroon, a country with an HIV prevalence rate of over 5%, Pope Benedict XVI made a shocking assertion on condom use to prevent HIV. He told reporters, "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem."

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Will the Female Condom Ever Catch On?

via The Daily Beast, by Joyce C. Tang

The first version of the female condom made a weird noise, fell out, and was expensive, too. Now public health experts are pushing a new and improved version in American cities. Can it overcome stigma?

Made from polyurethane, which is less pliable than latex, the female condom could be uncomfortable and resulted in a less-than-intimate sexual experience. Users complained of a "crinkling" or "squeaking" noise—not to mention a tendency for the condom to slip out if not inserted properly.

But last year's FDA approval of the second-generation female condom, called FC2, has prompted two U.S. cities, Chicago and Washington, D.C., to launch campaigns to reintroduce the contraceptive. Now made of nitrile, the crinkling and squeaking have been nearly silenced, and the FC2 costs 30 percent less than its predecessor did.

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HIV disease progression by hormonal contraceptive method: Secondary analysis of a randomized trial

[IRMA wonders what the implications are for some potentially contraceptive microbicides, which would be non-hormonal.]

Stringer, Elizabeth M; Levy, Jens; Sinkala, Moses; Chi, Benjamin H; Matongo, Inutu; Chintu, Namwinga; Stringer, Jeffrey SA

AIDS: 17 July 2009 - Volume 23 - Issue 11 - p 1377-1382

Background: HIV-infected women need access to safe contraception. We hypothesized that women using depomedroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) contraception would have faster HIV disease progression than women using oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) and nonhormonal methods.

Methods: In a previously reported trial, we randomized 599 HIV-infected women to the intrauterine device (IUD) or hormonal contraception. Women randomized to hormonal contraception chose between OCPs and DMPA. This analysis investigates the relationship between exposure to hormonal contraception and HIV disease progression [defined as death, becoming eligible for antiretroviral therapy (ART), or both].

Results: Of the 595 women not on ART at the time of randomization, 302 were allocated to hormonal contraception, of whom 190 (63%) initiated DMPA and 112 (37%) initiated OCPs. Women starting IUD, OCPs, or DMPA were similar at baseline. Compared with women using the IUD, the adjusted hazard of death was not significantly increased among women using OCPs [1.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42-3.63] or DMPA (1.83; 95% CI 0.82-4.08). However, women using OCPs (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1.69; 95% CI 1.09-2.64) or DMPA (AHR 1.56; 95% CI 1.08-2.26) trended toward an increased likelihood of becoming eligible for ART. Women exposed to OCPs (AHR 1.67; 95% CI 1.10-2.51) and DMPA (AHR 1.62; 95% CI 1.16-2.28) also had an increased hazard of meeting our composite disease progression outcome (death or becoming ART eligible) than women using the IUD.

Conclusion: In this secondary analysis, exposure to OCPs or DMPA was associated with HIV disease progression among women not yet on ART. This finding, if confirmed elsewhere, would have global implications and requires urgent further investigation