Religious leaders against lifting curbs on sale of condoms

By Lindsay Mackoon, Freelance Writer

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad:

RELIGIOUS LEADERS here have come out openly against the lifting of restrictions on the sale of condoms, announced on June 18 by Health Minister Dr Hamza Rafeeq.

With the lifting of the restrictions, condoms can be sold anywhere in this Caribbean state. Previously, they were obtainable at drug stores and family planning clinics only.

According to Dr Rafeeq, the move by the government is designed to curb the rise of the deadly HIV/AIDS disease.

"We are taking positive steps to stem the spread of the scourge," he said, adding the attempt must not be viewed as a government plan to promote

promiscuity. However, in a statement, Noble Khan, who heads the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), objected to the lifting of the sale restrictions.

"We live in a free country and everyone is entitled to his or her own beliefs and practices. The need for more access to condoms by the general public does not arise," he said.

Endorsing the sentiments were Rev. Winston Gopaul, head of the Presbyterian Church, and Pentecostal spokesman Pastor Winston Cuffy.

Said Gopaul: "We should not subscribe to that kind of free-for-all distribution of condoms because we feel it will intensify the permissiveness in the society."

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