U.S. MD changes tune on STD prevention, says ‘science evolves’

Leading medical official opposed condoms, safe needle exchange, now says these strategies work

The head of the United States’ top public health agency once opposed condoms and needle exchange programs as ways to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

This week, in one of his first media interviews since taking office, Dr. Robert Redfield Jr. said his views have changed.

“When you see evidence that these strategies work, you need to embrace them,” said Redfield, director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Redfield, 66, rose to prominence as a top researcher into the emerging AIDS epidemic.

But he was criticized for being out of step with the public health community on some issues.

In a 1987 booklet on AIDS aimed at young people, Redfield and his co-author offered no advice on condoms or other preventive measures, preaching that the best way to avoid AIDS was to avoid sex until marriage.

Research showing needle-exchange programs work emerged in the 1990s. “Science evolves,” Redfield said.

Until this year, Redfield sat on the board of Children’s AIDS Fund International, an organization that has long prioritized abstinence before marriage in preventing the spread of HIV.

Redfield told The Associated Press this week that it has become clear to him that condoms and needle exchanges work as part of comprehensive programs to stop the spread of certain infectious diseases.