Abstinence News and Research

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Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging a desire or appetite for certain bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to abstention from sexual intercourse, alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical considerations.

For teens - abstinence-only sex education programs...a waste of money!

It has taken a U.S. government report to confirm what experts in sexual behaviour have repeatedly warned about in recent years regarding teenage sex....abstinence just doesn't work.

16 Apr 2007

The passing of 'honest sex education policy' applauded

Yesterday, the Washington State House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 5297 by a vote of 63-34, paving the way for comprehensive sex education -- education that includes scientifically accurate information on abstinence and the health benefits of birth control and condoms -- to be taught in the state's schools.

15 Apr 2007

Researchers identify 221 genes possibly related to addiction vulnerability

Scientists supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, have for the first time identified genes that might increase a person's ability to abstain from smoking.

4 Apr 2007

Study suggests there's a role for religious institutions to play in the fight against HIV

HIV-positive people who say religion is an important part of their lives are likely to have fewer sexual partners and engage in high-risk sexual behavior less frequently than other people with the virus that causes AIDS, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.

4 Apr 2007

HHS Assistant Secretary for children, families to step down

Wade Horn -- assistant secretary for HHS' Administration for Children and Families, who oversees abstinence education programs for the Bush administration -- on Monday announced that he will resign from his position, the Washington Post reports.

3 Apr 2007

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief making significant contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic

...but it needs to strengthen its prevention efforts and develop programs that ensure long-term sustainability in focus countries, according to a report released Friday by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, the Washington Post reports

2 Apr 2007

Breakthrough research finds genes which may help smoking cessation

2 Apr 2007

Efficacy of Ugandan HIV prevention programs decreasing

The efficacy of Uganda's HIV prevention programs is decreasing because a new generation of young people are no longer receiving the messages of fidelity that helped curb the country's HIV epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Washington Post reports.

2 Apr 2007

HIV-positive men who have sex before circumcision wounds are healed could increase female partners' infection risk

HIV-positive men undergoing circumcision might be more likely to transmit the virus to their female partners if they have sex before the circumcision wounds have healed, according to preliminary results from a study being conducted in Uganda and presented on Tuesday to 75 officials from the World Health Organization and UNAIDS at a meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, the Washington Post reports

8 Mar 2007

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle rejects federal abstinence education funds

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) has directed the state Department of Health and Family Services to notify federal officials that Wisconsin is refusing $600,000 in Title V federal abstinence education funds for fiscal year 2007, health department spokesperson Stephanie Marquis said on Friday, the Madison Capital Times reports.

8 Mar 2007

Debate over HPV vaccine 'clouded' by worries about promiscuity

The debate over the Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil has been "clouded" by "worries about promiscuity," New York Times reporter Denise Grady writes in a column

8 Mar 2007

International donors must connect fight against HIV/AIDS to ending violence against women

Governments and international donors, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, need to address violence against women in the context of HIV/AIDS programs, according to a report conducted by Women Won't Wait and released on Tuesday, Reuters South Africa reports.

8 Mar 2007

Chantix versus Zyban

Researchers in the United States say smokers who fail to quit smoking by using pills, should not be disheartened and should try again.

25 Feb 2007

Roman Catholic leaders criticize New York City for distributing condoms

Roman Catholic leaders in New York City on Thursday released a joint statement criticizing the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's efforts to deliver about 26 million condoms to organizations and venues in the city to help curb the spread of HIV, the New York Post reports.

22 Feb 2007

Democrats seek to investigate funding for faith-based HIV/AIDS, abstinence initiatives

Some Democrats on the House International Relations Committee said they want to investigate funding for faith-based HIV/AIDS and abstinence-until-marriage initiatives receiving money under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to determine whether taxpayer money is being used appropriately, the Boston Globe reports.

5 Dec 2006

Chronic use of nicotine can reinforce the rewarding effects of alcohol

When sober alcoholics are tempted to fall off the wagon, the same receptor is stimulated as is activated by nicotine in their brain.

2 Dec 2006

Some Christian conservatives calling on Congress to reduce funding for Global Fund because of condom promotion

Some leading Christian conservatives are calling on Congress to reduce U.S. funding allocations to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, saying that the Global Fund does not allocate adequate resources to faith-based programs and that it promotes condom use, the Boston Globe reports.

2 Dec 2006

Incoming Congress should enact legislation to reduce abortion rate

Although "[t]aking substantial steps to reduce the abortion rate will not settle the larger ethical argument over the practice," the "election of a new congressional majority" for the 110th Congress should "open the way for a better approach to the abortion question," Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne writes in a Post opinion piece.

23 Nov 2006