To impose a dogma-driven policy that is fundamentally flawed is doing damage to Africa

Salon and The Guardian report on the European Union's rejection of Bush's "abstinence-only" program for HIV prevention and treatment:

People shouldn't die because they have sex

Europe, led by the U.K., Wednesday night signaled a major split with the United States over curbing the AIDS pandemic in a statement that tacitly urged African governments not to heed the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.

The statement, released for World AIDS Day Thursday, emphasizes the fundamental importance of condoms, sex education and access to reproductive health services.

I thought this quote in particular deserves extra attention – the italics are mine:

Asked whether the U.K. disagreed with the U.S. emphasis on abstinence, (international development secretary Hilary Benn) said: "Abstinence works if people can abstain, but I don't think people should die because they have sex. We need to make sure people have all the means [of prevention] at their disposal...."

Yes. If people can abstain. If people can resist one of the strongest human drives. If people living in desperate poverty can turn away from the human comfort of touch and sex. If women can become empowered enough to refuse men's advances.

The article talks mostly about Africa and the HIV/AIDS epidemic there, and the religious strings the U.S. ties to its contribution toward fighting the disease.

With 40 million people in Africa already infected, how can Bush justify withholding funding for clinics because they offer counseling about abortion? How can Bush justify limiting 2/3 of the funding to "education" that talks only about abstinence? He claims to be a Christian, but how can this policy possibly follow Jesus Christ's teachings about healing the sick, loving your neighbor, turning the other cheek, serving your fellow man, and leaving the judging up to God?

(T)he U.N. secretary general's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, accused the United States of "doing damage to Africa" by cutting funds for condoms in Uganda while promoting abstinence. "There is no doubt the condom crisis in Uganda is being driven by" U.S. policies, said Lewis. "To impose a dogma-driven policy that is fundamentally flawed is doing damage to Africa."