Interestingly, Cambodia is being held up as an example of how to do things right in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

In an article titled, "Prudishness in the White House is costing lives", the methods used in Cambodia in the fight against the spread of AIDS are working much better than the Bush administration's efforts.

... It doesn't do much good for American officials to preach abstinence and fidelity in places where the big risk of contracting HIV comes with marriage. In countries with a high prevalence of AIDS, just about the most dangerous thing a woman can do is to marry.

Bush's AIDS program, which has greatly increased spending over the levels in the Clinton years, is the single best thing he has done, and is projected to save some 9 million lives around the world. That's a genuine and historic achievement.

But the Bush program has also been undermined by a resistance to condoms. The administration has taken information about condoms off government Web sites, and its AIDS prevention efforts abroad, when aimed at young people, have emphasized abstinence to the exclusion of condoms.

Likewise, in much of the U.S., social conservatives with administration backing have instituted "abstinence only" sex education, so that teens are encouraged to take "virginity pledges" but aren't given a backup plan.

Careful studies of "abstinence only" programs in the U.S. suggest that they do delay sexual intercourse, but that young people are then less likely to use condoms afterward.

The idea of any system in Cambodia working is pretty amazing, so hats off to this one.

Or in the case of my family traditional caution when it comes to such things, hats ON.

I can't let this go without commenting on the line in the quote: undermined by a resistance to condoms.

There's something there that gives me the chuckles.

I'll be continuing the Cam news update in the next post ...