Kenyan Muslim clerics decide to campaign against use of condoms

A decision by Muslim clerics in northern Kenya to campaign against the use of condoms has caused alarm among AIDS awareness campaigners who are concerned that abstinence only messages are failing to prevent increasing HIV prevalence rates in Africa.

Earlier this month the clerics held a meeting on Islam and Health in Garissa, capital of Kenya’s northeastern province, an area largely inhabited by ethnic Somalis, in which they agreed to preach against the advocacy of condoms in the fight against AIDS.“A lot of money is being wasted to poison our community ... a huge amount of money is spent on buying condoms, buying immorality,” Sheikh Mohamud …