EFFECTIVENESS OF CONDOMS IN PREVENTING HIV TRANSMISSION

The consistent use of latex condoms continues to be advocated for prim ary prevention of HIV infection despite limited quantitative evidence regarding the effectiveness of condoms in blocking the sexual transmis sion of HIV. Although recent meta-analyses of condom effectiveness sug gest that condoms are 60 to 70% effective when used for HIV prophylaxi s, these studies do not isolate consistent condom use, and therefore p rovide only a lower bound on the true effectiveness of correct and con sistent condom use. A reexamination of HIV seroconversion studies sugg ests that condoms are 90 to 95% effective when used consistently, i.e. consistent condom users are 10 to 20 times less likely to become infe cted when exposed to the virus than are inconsistent or non-users. Sim ilar results are obtained utilizing model-based estimation techniques, which indicate that condoms decrease the per-contact probability of m ale-to-female transmission of HIV by about 95%. Though imperfect, cond oms provide substantial protection against HIV infection. Condom promo tion therefore remains an important international priority in the figh t against AIDS. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.