HHS should ensure abstinence education material used by Federal grantees contains accurate information on condoms, STIs

The Government Accountability Office's general council office on Wednesday released a legal opinion saying that under the Public Health Service Act, HHS should ensure abstinence education material prepared and used by groups receiving federal funding includes accurate information on sexually transmitted infections and the effectiveness of condoms, CQ HealthBeat reports.

According to the GAO opinion, HHS' assistant secretary for children and families had said that materials produced by abstinence education grantees are not under the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service Act provision because their main purpose is not STI education.

HHS also has said that although "grantees may address issues related to [STIs] in communicating the importance of abstinence, they are to address these issues only within the broader context of abstinence education," according to GAO.

The opinion did not state any violations of the law but called on HHS to review its position on the issue and ensure that grantees' materials complied with the Public Health Service Act.

HHS spokesperson Christina Pearson said the agency is reviewing the opinion, which was sent in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.

"[I]t's important to note that we already require abstinence education materials to comply with this requirement and believe our materials to be in-line with that requirement," Pearson said.

According to CQ HealthBeat, GAO's legal review came at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and other congressional Democrats (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 10/19).

Waxman in December 2004 released a report that was based on his staff's review of 13 of the most commonly used abstinence-only sex education curricula, finding that 11 of the programs contain "unproved claims, subjective conclusions or outright falsehoods regarding reproductive health, gender traits and when life begins."

One of the claims made was that condoms fail to prevent sexually transmitted infections 31% of the time when used during heterosexual intercourse, according to the report (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/6/04).

"All federally funded programs for teens should provide medically and scientifically accurate information," Waxman on Wednesday said in a statement, adding, "GAO's finding today will contribute to ensuring that abstinence education programs meet this standard" (CQ HealthBeat, 10/19).