Abstinence or sexual intercourse with a mutually faithful uninfected partner are most effective in preventing HIV infection. No public health strategy can guarantee perfect protection. In the laboratory, latex condoms are very effective at blocking transmission of HIV because the pores in latex condoms are too small to allow the passage of the virus. Condoms have been shown to be effective barriers not only to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but also to herpes simplex, CMV, hepatitis B, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. Because condom education has been lacking, people do not use them well.
Condom failure is more often due to user failure than product failure.
Mainly because of emotional reactions or misperceptions. Results from a telephone interview of heterosexuals in 23 urban areas with a high prevalence of AIDS found that distrust associated with condom use was more likely among males, African-Americans, and the less educated. For example, in Switzerland's STOP AIDS program, a brochure about AIDS was mailed to every Swiss household in 1986, and followed-up with a mass media campaign promoting the use of condoms. Increasingly, junior and senior high schools are making condoms available in special programs. The way in which condoms are made available has a great impact on whether or not they are acquired.