New Film Examines How U.S. Abstinence-Only Policies Endanger Women, Children in Africa and around World

May 18, 2007 Contact: Gretchen Wright Johanna Diaz 202/371-1999

Powerful New Film Premieres in Select North American Cities and Online Examines How U.S. Abstinence-Only Policies Endanger Women, Children in Africa and around World

Population Action International has released a short film that demonstrates, in heartbreaking detail, the grave consequences of the United States� abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention in Africa. It examines the impact, on real people, of U.S. policies that withhold vital information about condom use and other forms of prevention, placing people around the world at greater risk of contracting HIV. The documentary, Abstaining from Reality, has recently been screened before the United States Congress as well as parliaments in several European countries. It will shortly be shown in New York, San Francisco and Ottawa.

The nine-minute documentary is available online at http://www.populationaction.org/multimedia/video/index.htm.

Rosemarie Muganda-Onyando, a sexual and reproductive health expert based in Nairobi who appears in the film, is in the U.S. advocating on behalf of a more comprehensive approach to HIV prevention. Muganda-Onyando is available for interviews.

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Population Action International works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning, and reproductive health policies and programs.