Literacy and the HIV Crisis

"If you want to stop HIV spreading in Africa - stop teaching the people to read." That is the startling conclusion from Professor Grabaheadline at the University of Bathavonton. The controversial announcement follows Pope Benedict XVI decision to break with tradition and speak some sense about the use of contraception.  The Pope's comments were made in a series of interviews given to a German journalist, Peter Seewald, for a forthcoming book 'Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and the Signs of the Times.' 

Pope Benedict was asked whether the Catholic Church was not opposed in principle to the use of condoms. The Pope said that in the case of a male prostitute using a condom to reduce the risk of HIV infection could be the first step in the "direction of moralisation, a first assumption of responsibility...". He continued that the Church "does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality."

The Damascan conversion follows Pope Benedict's statement during his visit to Cameroon last year when he said the use of condoms could endanger public health and increase the problem of HIV/Aids rather than help to contain the virus. The comment confirmed the Church's traditional teaching on contraception which states that Catholics should only use 'natural' birth control by which it means only having sex during the infertile period of a woman's monthly cycle. Artificial methods of contraception are banned. 

The comment attracted a lot of criticism, particularly in Europe and rightly so. The statistics are shocking. According to the World Health Organisation there are over 34 million people infected with HIV worldwide with 23 million of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. This represents an astonishing 5.5% of the Sub-Saharan population and the epidemic is causing 1.4 million deaths a year in that region.

I should come clean and admit I am a member of probably the largest Church in Western Europe, the 'lapsed' Catholics. However, once in, never out' and over the last few months I have repeatedly found myself in the unusual position of defending the Church. Like everyone I have been truly appalled by the stories that have emerged about child abuse and the astonishing cover-ups. There is much to criticise and the recent scandals have rightly discredited Catholic clergy and institutions. However, it seems that to many commentators the Catholic Church is enemy number one.

This step towards a more humane teaching on the subject of contraception, no matter how small, should be applauded. There is no doubt that the refusal to accept condom use threatens people's lives, but that is not the whole picture. Africans are not dying simply because of Catholic teaching. Of the eight largest (%) Catholic populations in sub-Saharan Africa five have HIV infection rates well-below the average. Two, Lesotho and Swaziland have extremely high rates of infection and Uganda, is just above average. The picture on the ground is different to the 'official' teaching.

In the USA an estimated 95% of practising Catholics have used contraception. Individuals find a way to reconcile the practical aspects of life and faith. Why should African Catholics be different? It is slightly patronising to suggest that they would be more in thrall to the Church than the 'sophisticated' western Catholics. In fact the evidence suggests that countries that have embraced education programs teaching the Catholic emphasis to late start of sexual activity, abstention and faithfulness in relationships have seen a dramatic fall in the rate of new cases.

Giuseppe Caramazza, a Catholic Missionary commented to the Guardian in 2009, "I spent 17 years in Kenya as a missionary for the Catholic church. The condom might work in Europe; perhaps it does in Latin America. It certainly does not in Africa. Those countries that have chosen to popularise use of the condom – like many nations in southern Africa – are now fast changing policies." Countries such as Lesotho and Swaziland.


The point is that it is far too easy to blame the Church. The situation is much more complicated than Catholic teaching about condoms. Poverty? Clearly that has a role, but of the eight worst affected countries only four are in the lowest quartile for poverty and Botswana and South Africa are above many European countries. Ironically, the most consistent link to high HIV infection seemed to occur with high literacy rates. Seven of the countries with the highest infection rates also have the highest literacy rates. With an average literacy rate of 58% across sub-Saharan Africa, all except Malawi (58%) have substantially higher rates; between 71% in Zambia (infection rate of 14.3%) to 87% in Zimbabwe (infection rate 18.1).


Should we condemn the Catholic Church for teaching people to read?

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