Harvard's Dr. Green on the Pope, Aids, and Condoms in Africa

Dr. Edward Green, Director of of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard School of Public Health said, in a interview published today, "I am a liberal on social issues and it's difficult to admit, but the Pope is indeed right.  The best evidence we have shows that condoms do not work as an intervention intended to reduce HIV infection rates in Africa."  Green went on to say, "[w]hat we see in fact is an association between greater condom use and higher infection rates."

Last week, the New York Times wrote a scathing editorial stating that the Pope "deserves no credence when he distorts scientific finding about the value of condoms in slowing the spread of the AIDS virus."  The Times continues:  "There is no evidence that condom use is aggravating the epidemic and considerable evidence that condoms, though no panacea, can be helpful in many circumstances."

Who is distorting the scientific facts?  And, toward what ends?