Stop National Condom Week: NU

Purwokerto, Central Java, Dec 3 (Antara) - The chief patron of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, K.H. Hasyim Muzadi, has urged the Health Affairs Ministry to stop National Condom Week, which is being observed from December 1 through 7. "I urge the ministry to stop observing National Condom Week because it justifies casual sexual behavior," Hasyim noted here on Tuesday. The well-known NU leader, who spoke to the media after delivering his speech at a discussion on "National Stability before 2014," said that if the government wants to tackle the AIDS/HIV issue, it should attempt other strategies. "I disagree with the free distribution of condoms. Such measures must be stopped immediately," Haysim, who is a former vice presidential candidate, added. National Condom Week is being organized by the Health Affairs Ministry and carried out by the National AIDS Commission (NAC) in cooperation with a leading condom manufacturer. Earlier, the Indonesian Ulema Council`s (MUI) chairman, K.H. Amidhan, had also said that his party disagreed with the implementation of National Condom Week. "The MUI does not agree with the implementation of National Condom Week because it only suits the interests of the condom manufacturers and does not promote the use of contraceptives," Amidhan added on Monday. He argued that promoting condoms could be misinterpreted by teenagers as permission to engage in casual sexual activities. Amidhan further stated that sex education for the public, including teenagers, was more important than promoting condom use. Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi, however, said that promoting the use of condoms is not wrong. "Distributing cigarettes is more dangerous than launching a campaign to distribute condoms," the minister pointed out. However, the deputy secretary to the executive board of Nahdlatul Ulama, or PBNU, Muhammad Sulton Fatoni, exhorted Muslims to refrain from participating in such activities, according to a statement received here on Sunday. In addition, Sulton said that while efforts to prevent an increase in AIDS cases were noble, the distribution of free condoms could be misused by people to commit adultery. The free distribution of condoms might also run afoul of religious teachings, he warned.