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World AIDS Day Highlights Importance of Prevention
November 30, 2007
[30 November 2007] - As the global community marks World AIDS Day on December 1, 2007, Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates called on Congress to halt funding for harmful abstinence-only programs that deny teenagers lifesaving information about preventing infections like HIV/AIDS.
"World AIDS Day is a powerful reminder of the importance of prevention and of the fact that young people in the U.S., and right here in Pennsylvania, are being denied the information they need to protect their health," said Sari Stevens, Director of Public Affairs. "Congress has wasted more than a billion dollars on inaccurate and ineffective abstinence-only programs that do nothing to help young people make responsible decisions about preventing infections like HIV/AIDS. Our own commonwealth continues to accept these funds for programs that do not work."
According to the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, there are approximately 33.2 million people living with HIV worldwide. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates there are more than one million people living with HIV in the United States.
"Education and testing are essential parts of HIV prevention and every year Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania does our part to help protect young people, but we can't do it alone," said Stevens. "It's time for Congress to stop funding wasteful abstinence-only programs and start supporting education that helps young people make responsible decisions about their health like delaying sexual activity until they are ready and using condoms if and when they decide to have sex."
Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania serves over 147,000 patients per year at our 44 health centers with family planning services. This vital health care includes testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, as well as sex education which emphasizes prevention of these infections.
While Congress continues to fund abstinence-only programs, Planned Parenthood has urged states to reject the federal funds. As a result, governors across America, from Montana to Massachusetts, have rejected funding for abstinence-only programs, citing several reports that have found these programs to be ineffective at changing teens sexual behavior, including a federally funded April 2007 study by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Virginia recently became the 14th state to reject the funding. Unfortunately, Governor Rendell has chosen to accept these funds for fiscal year 07-08 in Pennsylvania, even in light of numerous studies exposing the programs' ineffectiveness.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) provides five million women, men and teens worldwide with health care services, information and education each year. In addition to PPFA's prevention work in communities across America, the organization's international programs expand access to comprehensive reproductive health services and HIV prevention programs throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Planned Parenthood works to train increasing numbers of health care partners to provide HIV/AIDS counseling and testing.
"We need to make sure young people in the U.S. and around the world have the tools they need to make responsible decisions," said Stevens "As a parent, I want my teenagers to learn about abstinence and contraception so they can make responsible, safe decisions about their health. It's time for Congress to stop wasting money and start putting teens and parents first by funding comprehensive sex education programs that include medically accurate messages about prevention and abstinence."
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