The consistent use of
latex condoms continues to be advocated for primary prevention of
HIV infection despite limited quantitative evidence regarding the effectiveness of
condoms in blocking the sexual transmission of HIV. Although recent meta-analyses of
condom effectiveness suggest that
condoms are 60 to 70% effective when used for HIV prophylaxis, these studies do not isolate consistent
condom use, and therefore provide only a lower bound on the true effectiveness of correct and consistent
condom use. A reexamination of
HIV seroconversion studies suggests that
condoms are 90 to 95% effective when used consistently, i.e. consistent
condom users are 10 to 20 times less likely to become infected when exposed to the virus than are inconsistent or non-users. Similar results are obtained utilizing model-based estimation techniques, which indicate that
condoms decrease the per-contact probability of male-to-female transmission of HIV by about 95%. Though imperfect,
condoms provide substantial protection against
HIV infection.
Condom promotion therefore remains an important international priority in the fight against
AIDS.