Madam, - I would like to make a few points in response to letters from Owen Corrigan (March 14th) and Mary Stewart (March 17th).
With regard to the transmission of infection and disease, condoms are considered a method of "risk reduction". A study conducted by the US National Institutes of Health, entitled "Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention", found that condoms provide a risk reduction of only 85 per cent for the transmission of HIV.
The same study could not prove that condoms offered any protection for woman against seven of the eight STDs reviewed. Further, it mentioned that there is no evidence that condoms reduce the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, responsible for 99.7 per cent of cervical cancer, which kills an estimated 288,000 women annually.
With regard to a possible correlation between condom availability and the incidence of STDs, condoms were legalised in Ireland in 1985, becoming freely available outside pharmacies and to all ages in 1993. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) of Ireland reports: "STIs have been increasing each year since 1994."
This is probably due to a number of factors, but nonetheless the promotion of condoms for "safe sex" has led to a false sense of security.
Mr Corrigan and Mrs Stewart agree, as do I, that education is the best way to tackle this problem. Such education needs to expose the facts and risks of mass-culture ideas on sexuality. More importantly we need to have faith in our young people and and their ability to understand and respect the true beauty of human sexuality, educating them in behavioural choices that more readily lead to love and life while also avoiding these debilitating diseases. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT McNAMARA, Phibsborough, Dublin 7.