[Zinkovich]

I don't, nor have I ever attempted reprimanding my friends, only making sure that are aware of the proven facts that in African countries where condoms are dispensed freely, AIDS is rampant, while in countries that have a policy of promoting monogamy and abstinance, it is not.

Facts, you say? Here's some studies for you:

The degree to which women are able to control various aspects of their sexual lives is clearly a critical question for health promotion and the prevention of AIDS. It is evident that social factors such as the high rate of rape, the unfavourable economic position of women, and the inability to insist on condom usage make South African women unable to negotiate the timing of sex and the conditions under which it occurs. They are thus rendered powerless to protect themselves against HIV infection. Prevention campaigns often do not take into account the reality of the daily lives of South African women and the difficulties they face gaining control over their own sexual lives. The rampant spread of this disease can only be stemmed if the subordinate position of women is acknowledged and addressed.

BACKGROUND: Drug therapy for people with AIDS is a humanitarian priority but prevention of HIV infection remains essential. Focusing on young single African women, we aimed to assess trends in a set of behaviours-sexual abstinence, contraceptive use, and condom use-that are known to affect the rates of HIV transmission. METHODS: We did a secondary analysis of public-access data sets in 18 African countries (132,800 women), and calculated changes in a set of behavioural indicators over time. We standardised these trends from nationally representative surveys to adjust for within-country changes in age, education, and type of residential location. FINDINGS: Between about 1993 and 2001, the percentage of women reporting no sexual experience changed little. During the same period, the percentage of sexually experienced women who reported no sexual intercourse in the previous 3 months (secondary abstinence) rose significantly in seven of 18 countries and the median for all 18 countries increased from 43.8% to 49.2%. Use of condoms for pregnancy prevention rose significantly in 13 of 18 countries and the median proportion increased from 5.3% to 18.8%. The median rate of annual increase of condom use was 1.41 percentage points (95% CI 1.12-2.25). In the 13 countries with available data, condom use at most recent coitus rose from a median of 19.3% to 28.4%. Over half (58.5%) of condom users were motivated, at least in part, by a wish to avoid pregnancy. INTERPRETATION: Condom promotion campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa have affected the behaviour of young single women; the pace of change has matched the rise in contraceptive use by married couples in developing countries over recent decades. Thus continuing efforts to promote condom use with emphasis on pregnancy prevention are justified.

Entrez PubMed

Condoms not effective against aids? What about these studies:

The most convincing data on risk factors for HIV infection come from prospective studies of serodiscordant couples, those where one partner is infected and the other is not. In these situations, regular sexual exposure to an infected partner is known, and more accurate record-keeping on condom use is usually possible than in retrospective surveys. (Feldblum) Three recent studies of heterosexual serodiscordant couples have compared rates of HIV seroconversion (where the uninfected partner becomes infected) in couples using condoms with varying consistency (see Table 1-1). Two extremely important conclusions are supported by all three studies. First, with consistent condom use, the HIV infection rate among the uninfected partners was less than 1 percent per year. Second, in situations where one partner is definitely infected, inconsistent condom use can be as risky as not using condoms at all. In a multi-center Italian study that followed 305 sexually active seronegative female sexual partners of HIV-infected men for a median of 24 months, 3.9 infections occurred per 100 person-years (py). (Saracco) The HIV incidence was reduced by 84 percent in women who always used condoms compared with women who used them inconsistently or never (rate ratio 0.2; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1-0.5).* Of the 171 women who always used a condom, 1.7 percent became infected. The percent infected was higher among those using condoms some of the time (14.5 percent of 55 women), compared with those who never used condoms (10.1 percent of 79 women). A multi-country European collaborative study enrolled 378 seronegative regular partners of HIV-infected men or women; 256 of the couples continued to have vaginal or anal intercourse. (deVincenzi) About one half of the couples used condoms at every intercourse, and no seroconversions occurred among these couples (95% CI 0-1.5 per 100 py). Nearly 10 percent of the 121 couples who used condoms inconsistently or not at all seroconverted, an HIV incidence rate of 4.8/100 py (95% CI 2.5-8.4). These infections occurred even though 50 percent of the inconsistent users reported using condoms at least half the time. In a Haitian serodiscordant couples study, 63 percent of couples ceased sexual activity soon after enrollment. The HIV seroconver-sion rate among the 177 couples who remained sexually active was 5.4 per 100 py. (Deschamps) The infection rate was 1.0 per 100 couples who always used condoms (2.4 percent of 42 couples), compared with 6.8 per 100 couples who used condoms inconsistently or not at all (rate ratio 0.1). As in the Italian study, there was almost no difference in the risk of infection between inconsistent users and non-users. Of the 45 inconsistent users, 13.3 percent became infected; of the 90 non-users, 14.4 percent became infected. These three studies show that consistent condom use is extremely effective against HIV transmission. Even with regular exposure to infection, self-reported consistent condom users have a near-zero risk of HIV. However, among these serodiscordant couples, inconsistent condom use carries considerable risks of HIV infection, since exposure to infection is guaranteed at every unprotected intercourse. In this sexual context, inconsistent condom use offers little protection against HIV, compared with non-use.

More, on a condom's ability to block fluids(which is the method by which HIV transmits between partners):

Latex condoms are virtually certain of blocking passage of genital fluids and their constituents between sex partners. The organisms that condoms are designed to block range in size from spermatozoa, about 0.003 millimeters (mm), or 3000 nanometers (nm) in largest diameter, through the STD pathogens: N. gonorrhoeae (800 nm), C. trachomatis (200 nm), HIV (125 nm) and hepatitis B virus (40 nm). Two FDA teams have devised laboratory tests to simulate body fluid transfer to test the permeability of latex condoms. Carey and colleagues used fluorescing plastic micro-spheres 110 nm in diameter, approximately equivalent in size to HIV. In addition, the degree of acidity, surface tension, viscosity, temperature, pressure, geometry and time were all considered and controlled in the study of 89 condoms. Although 29 condoms showed evidence of leakage, the estimated amount of fluid crossing the membrane was 0.1 microliter or less, corresponding to 0.01 percent of typical ejaculate, an amount that would be expected to be virus-free in an HIV-infected man. (Carey) Thus, even with pinhole leakage in some devices, the authors estimated that condom use would decrease exposure to HIV 10,000-fold. They concluded from this simulation that the latex condom offers extremely reliable protection against HIV but does not totally eliminate the risk. (Carey)

FHI - Chapter 1: Pregnancy and STD Prevention

...And there's a lot more studies where that came from, but I will stop because of the character per post limit. What we need is consistent condom use amongst sexual partners, rather than the ridiculous idea of trying to mandate abstinence(or "denouncing lifestyles", as you euphemistically put it), which is an impossible battle considering the biological imperative of us humans to participate in any form of sex at all.