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A new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS found that even when people use condoms consistently, the failure rate for protection against HIV is an estimated 10 percent - mostly due to incorrect usage and human error, making condoms a larger risk than portrayed by many advocate groups, The Boston Globe reports.

Based on two decades of scientific literature on condoms, UNAIDS researchers concluded that the failure rate is not linked to defects in the condoms but to human errors. The most common errors noted in the report were a failure to leave room at the tip of the condom to collect semen; a failure to use lubrication, which can lessen the chances of condoms breaking; a failure to put on a condom before any genital contact and condoms slipping off.

The report also suggested that the failure rate of condoms to prevent pregnancies is also likely 10%, due to the same human errors.

Contradicting studies and claims made by other groups on condom usage - some asserting that condoms are nearly 100% effective in preventing HIV exposure, the report is likely to add fuel to a heated political battle in fighting AIDS in the developing world.

Population Action International (PAI) researchers who in a September 2002 report concluded that condoms are nearly 100% effective when used correctly pointed out that the UNAIDS study focused on human errors associated with condom use.

The PAI report states that condoms "block contact with bodily fluids that can carry the HIV virus and have a effectiveness when used correctly and consistently."

AIDS awareness advocates worry that the UNAIDS report might provide ammunition to conservative groups and other proponents of abstinence - including the Bush Administration - to further claim that condoms are ineffective in preventing HIV infections and to abandon or sharply reduce condom distribution and sexual health education programs.

"We are in the midst of a battle in which the opposition seeks to exclude condoms from the mix of HIV prevention," Terri Bartlett, PAI vice president for public policy, told the Globe. "It's an old saying, but vows of abstinence break more often than condoms."

The disease has killed more than 20 million people worldwide and now infects 42 million.

In light of the report's findings, UNAIDS has voiced hope that the report not only clears up confusion over condom effectiveness but also helps educate people worldwide about how to use condoms properly.