I got a hold of the transcript from the December 5 interview with Senator Bill Frist thanks to a loyal reader. Because of the length, i did not blockquote. Here goes:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) Okay, let me switch to another subject. There was a bit of an uproar in Washington this week about this issue of these abstinence programs that are funded by the Federal government, the funding has doubled over the last four years but there was a report by the minority staff at the House Government Affairs Committee that showed that 11 of 13 of these programs are giving out false information. I want to show some of the claims they identified in the curricula. One of them was, one of the programs taught that "The actual ability of condoms to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS, even if the product is intact, is not definitively known." Another, "The popular claim that condoms help prevent the spread of STDs is not supported by the data." A third suggested that tears and sweat could transmit HIV and AIDS. Now, you're a doctor. Do you believe that tears and sweat can transmit HIV?
SENATOR BILL FRIST--I don't know. I can tell you ...
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) You don't know?
FRIST--I can tell you things like, like ...
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) Well, wait, let me stop you, you don't know that, you believe that tears and sweat might be able to transmit AIDS?
FRIST--Yeah, no, I can tell you that HIV is not very transmissible as an element like, compared to smallpox, compared to the flu. It is not, but the first slide, because I think it's dangerous to show that and then sort of walk away.
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) No, let's talk. I want to talk about all of it.
FRIST--But about, about condoms, for example. We know there's about a 15 percent failure rate. You know, this is a deadly virus and you know it is directly transmissible with a relatively high degree of infectivity by, by sexual relations. If there's a 15 percent failure rate in, in condoms ...
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) But this was suggesting that they don't work even if the condom is intact.
FRIST--Oh, I know. But, but let me just say because the whole, the whole success, if you look in Africa today where as you know 28 million people are infected today is on this ABC, abstinence which is sort of the initial thrust itself which is the only way to prevent, only way to prevent.
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) Only surefire way.
FRIST--That's right. Only surefire. Very hard culturally in lots of approaches. Being faithful. Again, one partner and in certain cultures that is very hard and, then third, condoms. If you take out just condoms and say that is the answer with the 15 percent failure rate with a highly infective virus through sexual relations ...
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) These are suggesting that they're really never the answer.
FRIST--No, well, clearly. I'm telling you that the proposal that the Federal government supports is officially this A, B, C approach, we put $15 billion into this, what I would regard as one of the great moral and public health tragedies of the last 100 years, probably HIV/AIDS.
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) But do you think these abstinence programs should be reviewed and that they should be required to give out scientifically accurate information?
FRIST--Oh, I think of course they should be reviewed, I mean, and that's in part our responsibility to make sure that all of these programs are reviewed but whether it's abstinence or whether it's condoms or whether it is better education on the infectivity of how washing hands in terms of the flu, all of these are public health challenges that we need in terms of better education, yes, the government has a role, especially if we're gonna be ...
STEPHANOPOULOS--(Off Camera) Let me just, I wanted to move to another subject, let me just clear this up, though. Do you or do you not believe that tears and sweat can transmit HIV?
FRIST--It would be very hard. It would be very hard for tears and sweat, I mean, you can get virus in tears and sweat but in terms of the degree of infecting somebody, it would be very hard.
Like I said, Senator Frist was grilled.
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