Pope Benedict XVI

Georgetown, March 21: World Health Assembly president, Guyana's Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, has reacted strongly to the Pope Benedict's call for ending condom use in the fights against AIDS.

The Health Minister, regarded by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as a strong campaigner in the fight against HIVdefine and AIDS, felt that "The statement by the Pope is inconsistent with science, it's inconsistent with our experiences and it is not in sync with what Catholics have experienced and believe.”

Washington, March 19: Pope Benedict XVI's comment that sexual abstinence and not condoms are the need of the hour to fight AIDS has earned ire of several human right advocacy groups and Catholic crowds in the US as well as worldwide.

The pope’s comments came on his first papal visit to the African continent, where around 22 million people are HIVdefine infected, as estimated by the UN in 2007. Swarms of African people are expected to attend his sermons in his week-long trip to the continent.