BANGKOK, Thailand – Imagine that there was a devastating disease for which there was no cure. Imagine that 14,000 people died from the disease every day, most of them women and young people. Imagine that there was a simple and inexpensive way to avert most, if not all of those deaths. And worst of all, imagine that many leaders were against the approach for political, religious and social reasons.

We don’t have to imagine. HIV/AIDS is real. And scientists are unequivocal in concluding that short of abstinence, condoms offer the best protection against the spread of HIV/AIDS, the world’s most challenging health problem.

A report titled, “Condom Count: Meeting the Need in the Era of HIV/AIDS,” published by Population Action International in Washington, D.C., was direct: “The condom is the only technology available for protection from sexually transmitted HIV.”

It can’t be stated any clearer than that.

Yet, for an array of reasons, many of them well-intended, America’s sex-oriented society refuses to embrace – and in some cases, even discuss – the need for a high-profile, public drive to encourage the use of male and female condoms. And we’re paying a deadly price for that refusal.

Almost half of all new HIV infections are occurring among people younger than 25 years old, the report observes. More than 6,000 contract the virus each day. African-American teens (ages 13-19) represent only 15 percent of U.S. teenagers yet account for 61 percent of new AIDS cases reported among teens in 2001, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

To pretend that teenagers are not sexually active is to ignore reality.

The CDC surveyed 14,000 teenagers in grades 9-12 (ages 14 to 17) between 1991 and 2003. According to its findings, in 2003, 47 percent of the teens admitted to having engaged in sex. And those are just the ones that admit it.

That reality notwithstanding, many – including President Bush – argue that the only way for teens to avoid HIV is to delay sexual activity until marriage. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the only member of Congress to attend the international AIDS conference here, counters, “Abstinence until marriage programs are not only irresponsible, but inhumane. U.S. policy does not give young girls and women adequate tools to protect themselves against this killer.”

The report by Population Action International states: “Public health experts around the globe agree that condoms block contact with body fluids that can carry the HIV virus and have nearly 100 percent effectiveness when used correctly and consistently.”

According to the study, it would have taken 8 billion condoms in 2000 to significantly reduce the rate of infection. However, donor nations provided only 950 million that year, less than one-eight of the number needed.

While the Bush administration places a heavy emphasis on abstinence-only programs, other countries are moving to remove the stigma associated with obtaining condoms. At this year’s Carnival, for example, the Brazilian government distributed 10 million free condoms.

Can you imagine the impact of distributing thousands of condoms at the Super Bowl each year? It would be a bold move but we need bold behavior to confront this bold, ever-changing disease.

UNAIDS reports, “The search for new preventive technologies such as HIV vaccines and microbicides continues to make progress, but condoms will remain the key preventive tool for many, many years to come.” It, too, notes, “The male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.”

In the face of such conclusive evidence about how to best protect our youth – and everyone else – many political leaders refuse to support sex education programs for fear of encouraging teen sexual activity. The bulk of scientific evidence, however, shows that there is no link between the onset of sexual activity among teenagers and their having been exposed to sex education programs.

When it comes to using condoms, young people seem to be ahead of adults.

According to the CDC study, among students who reported being sexually active, those that used a condom the last time they had sexual intercourse increased 37 percent, from 46 percent in 1991 to 63 percent in 2003. Over that period, condom use increased 54 percent among Latino students, 52 percent among African-American students, and 37 percent among White youth.

Today’s teenagers have never known a world without AIDS. If they can make that much progress without widespread public support, just imagine what they could accomplish if we removed all obstacles to obtaining cheap or free condoms. The whole world would be safer.