London 8 March 2007

A damning documentary film exposing the dangers of U.S. abstinence-only HIV prevention policies, told through first hand accounts of the women and men affected by the epidemic in Kenya and Uganda, is to be premiered at the Houses of Parliament on International Women’s Day, March 8th.

'Abstaining from Reality', a short film produced by U.S.-based Population Action International (PAI), demonstrates in the starkest terms that U.S. policies are placing people the world over – particularly women – at greater risk of contracting HIV because of the lack of evidence-based education and prevention programs in favor of abstinence-only programs. 

The film receives its world premiere in London co-hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and PAI.

“PAI has chosen to hold the worldwide premiere of Abstaining from Reality in London because of the British government’s longstanding commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights.  We thank them for their ‘reality’ on this important issue and urge them to remain steadfast in their commitment to an evidence-based comprehensive approach to the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS in developing nations,” said Amy Coen, PAI’s President/CEO.

'Abstaining from Reality', filmed entirely in Kenya and Uganda, clearly demonstrates how the abstinence-only focus of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003, is undermining successful comprehensive approaches to HIV prevention.

“The reality is that bad policies which ignore the evidence from 25 years of the HIV epidemic are placing vulnerable people at greater risk through nothing other than ignorance of the facts – facts deliberately withheld from them for ideological reasons. The abstinence-only focus of PEPFAR is bad policy and is further evidence that the ‘culture war’ being waged by the Right in the U.S. is being exported to developing nations thinly disguised as humanitarian assistance,” said Dr. Nono Simelela, Director of Technical Knowledge at IPPF.

The documentary focuses on the life of Juliet Awuor, a young Kenyan woman who contracted HIV during her first sexual encounter at age 17, and who says neither she nor her partner understood how to correctly use a condom.

Also featured are prominent community leaders such as:

• Rosemarie Muganda Onyando from the Centre for the Study of Adolescence (Kenya)
• Pastor Martin Ssempa of the Makerere Community Church (Uganda)
• Gabriel Amori from the Uganda Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Affected by HIV/AIDS
• Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha, the first known African church leader to declare he was HIV-positive

'Abstaining from Reality' puts a human face on the consequences of U.S. policies that preach abstinence-only, withhold vital information about other forms of prevention, and demonize condoms as unsuitable except for a narrow group of “high-risk” individuals.

Abstaining from Reality urges the entire international community to adopt HIV prevention policies that are balanced, evidence-based and empower individuals to protect themselves from contracting the disease. 

PEPFAR has several ideological restrictions that undermine HIV prevention efforts and consequently puts the lives of millions of women, young people and couples at risk. 

Chief among them is the intense promotion and funding of an abstinence-only approach as the lead HIV prevention strategy. 

“To strictly say abstinence only,” Rosemarie Muganda Onyando says in the film, “is like walking into a hospital ward and having all these patients with different ailments and saying, ‘Okay, this is a prescription, it is the same prescription for all of you.’”

Further highlighting the existing problems and perils facing U.S. programs concerning sexual and reproductive health, President Bush has recently proposed a 25% cut of $111 million from U.S. international family planning and reproductive health programs next year while increasing funding for abstinence-only programs.

Wendy Turnbull, PAI’s Senior Policy Advisor adds, “This request clearly illustrates yet another example of the Bush Administration’s ongoing disdain for women’s rights and health in developing countries.”

To view an excerpt of Abstaining from Reality on the web, visit www.populationaction.org

PAI
Population Action International works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning, and reproductive health policies and programs.

IPPF
The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is the strongest global voice safeguarding sexual and reproductive health and rights for people everywhere. IPPF is both a service provider and an advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights through a network of 151 Member Associations working in 180 countries.