Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

A new study sponsored by the United Nations lends credibility to faith leaders who have long argued that behavioral change is key to combating the spread of AIDS, says a Catholic expert on the disease. “Within the United Nations, there is more and more attention to focusing on abstinence and the reduction of the number of sexual partners as well as the strategy of promoting condoms,” said Msgr. Robert Vitillo, special adviser to Caritas Internationalis on H.I.V. and AIDS. “This is a validation of what we’ve done.” Released on July 13, the study from the Joint U.N. Program on H.I.V./AIDS indicates that the prevalence of H.I.V. among young people has declined by more than 25 percent in 15 of the 21 countries most affected by the disease. In eight countries, the declines in H.I.V. rates resulted, at least in part, from positive changes in sexual behavior among young people, including youth waiting longer before they become sexually active and having fewer partners.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Despair is easy for anyone who takes seriously the call to love your neighbor as yourself. But hope can come in two ways.
Thomas J. ReeseJuly 16, 2025
A Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinJuly 16, 2025
The majority of survey respondents cited their Marian devotions as having played an important role in the discernment and living of their call to religious life.
A young woman kneels and prays at a pew, looking toward the altar of a Catholic church. (iStock/roman_sh)
I have questioned the ethical implications of belonging to an institution with so many members sympathetic to MAGA politics. But I can still rediscover the hope of the Eucharist in my parish.
Kathleen BonnetteJuly 16, 2025