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Location: Blogs Dr. John's Personal Blog
Posted by: host	3/3/2006
I thought this headline would catch your attention. When I first heard about this news it caught my attention too –and made me quite upset. Please read on… It is sad when HIV/AIDS prevention education like the TeenAIDS model that is based entirely on medical facts, is outlawed in certain regions of the world. For whatever reason that governments or adult institutions make censorship of scientific data official policy, it is innocent young people who pay the price – in this case, by premature death from AIDS. Let me explain what has happened to my Harvard-based program in Utah and China. In Utah, education is controlled by the State (here in Massachusetts, schools are locally controlled). I was invited to conduct my outreach in Utah by TeenAIDS Board member Doug Soelberg who had four children in the public school system. The Soelbergs are active members of the LDS (Mormon) Church. He and his wife Cher knew from conversations with their children’s friends that there was a lot of... I thought this headline would catch your attention. When I first heard about this news it caught my attention too –and made me quite upset. Please read on… It is sad when HIV/AIDS prevention education like the TeenAIDS model that is based entirely on medical facts, is outlawed in certain regions of the world. For whatever reason that governments or adult institutions make censorship of scientific data official policy, it is innocent young people who pay the price – in this case, by premature death from AIDS. Let me explain what has happened to my Harvard-based program in Utah and China. In Utah, education is controlled by the State (here in Massachusetts, schools are locally controlled). I was invited to conduct my outreach in Utah by TeenAIDS Board member Doug Soelberg who had four children in the public school system. The Soelbergs are active members of the LDS (Mormon) Church. He and his wife Cher knew from conversations with their children’s friends that there was a lot of ignorance about the medical facts -- putting all their children’s circle of friends at risk. Comments ranged from: “We don’t hear about AIDS” to “Only Africans and gays can get AIDS – not us in Utah.” Cher spent a lot of time contacting schools in Salt Lake City, Provo and environs. She spoke to teacher friends and school administrators who reported back that it was impossible to arrange. I was not allowed to speak at any public high school on AIDS prevention education. It wasn’t because I was an expensive commodity because I don’t charge schools any fees believing that my work is my professional mission. I don’t use bad language nor do I show condoms. And the reason? My message, the ABCs of AIDS, dares to provide complete medical information to youth about the transmission routes of HIV. Utah believes only in providing a religious based, abstinence-only-before-marriage message. It is illegal to discuss the reality of premarital sex or even mention the word "condom" in its public schools. Even advice to young people about the reality of pre-marital sex is denied. The only advice given to physically maturing17 and 18 year-olds in Utah is “don’t even think about it until you’re married – even if that means you wait until you’re 25 to have your first sexual experience!” In Utah, the Bs and Cs of my ABCs are verboten information. The end result? One of the highest unwanted teen pregnancy rates in the country and too many unnecessary HIV cases. What a waste of young lives because adults want to deny the truth to older teens. I have many friends in Utah because I once lived in Idaho and spent time in the Beehive state. It's a beautiful area of our nation and the people live clean lives. I admire the high moral standards that are pervasive in its communities, but I truly think that their educational policy towards young people and HIV/AIDS education misses the mark. This website you are viewing, the best and most extensive resource for youth on HIV prevention, is banned in Utah’s public high schools and in many of its public libraries. Yet Hollywood movies and television shows that promote promiscuous lifestyles during primetime freely cross its borders over the public airwaves, sponsored in large part by advertising revenue from businesses owned by Utah residents. But their curious teens are left vulnerable in the dark. Go figure… In China, our Global Board member Dr. Brian Michael Jones of Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong sent me the news that our website is banned because of "sex education content." Can you believe it? Today China is facing one of the largest epidemics of HIV/AIDS anywhere in the world. During the first decade of the pandemic, China did virtually nothing to inform its citizens. AIDS was considered a foreigner’s disease, endemic of corrupt western lifestyles. At international AIDS conferences in the 1990s, I remember talking to wonderful delegates from China about the need for them to provide quality education to their young people based on medical facts. One of them threw up her hands saying "what can we do…this is government policy." The irony is that if a person is a sex worker or a drug addict (these are officially considered “social evils”) they are eligible for information – but not impressionable older teens and young adults who are not married. I can understand if a nation chooses to censor information they don't want in their country that goes against their moral or political values. I might not agree with that policy but I can understand their actions. However, for the life of me (and for the lives of millions of young people in China) I cannot comprehend nor accept this blatant censorship of an intelligent resource site like ours because it includes sexual education content. We are among a very few that even offer Chinese language translations. Authorities, whether they're in Utah or China, will figuratively have blood on their hands from the many unnecessary deaths of young people caused by HIV/AIDS because they are officially denied school education and now, internet access to the facts. I will still visit Utah and China in this year coming up. I sincerely hope that my mission will not be stopped by the authorities because millions of innocent lives are at stake.

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