PubMed Health⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 12295518

Condom use banned.

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

A traditional chief in Swaziland has banned the use of condoms by men in his chiefdom, because they were "misusing and wasting a man's reproductive fluid". The ban, which made front-page news in the Times Newspaper of Swaziland, has shocked nongovernmental organization and family planning officials in the tiny southern African kingdom, the Southern African Press Association reported. Addressing hundreds of his subjects at his Kraal during a visit by health ministry officials, Chief Jameson Ndznatabautfu Maseko said using condoms was against God's laws as stated in the Old Testament. But the chief was willing to continue to allow women to use contraceptive pills, the report said. The chief did not say how he hoped to monitor his male subjects' sex lives but gave instructions that anyone using or being forced to use condoms be reported to him immediately. In a reaction to the chief's comments, health ministry principal secretary, Myekani Vilakati said that if the reports were correct, "the family planning program would have to start all over again, this time starting with educating the country's traditional leaders".

Explore related subjects

AfricaAfrica South of the SaharaAfrica, SouthernCondomsContraceptionContraception BehaviorDeveloping CountriesEswatiniFamily Planning ServicesPublic PolicyResearchAfrica South Of The SaharaBarrier MethodsCondomContraceptive MethodsContraceptive UsageEnglish Speaking AfricaFamily PlanningPolicySouthern AfricaSummary ReportSwazilandJournal Article

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

1997. Condom use banned.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12295518/

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2026

Genetic Basis of Pancreatic Steatosis: A Systematic Review of Comparison between African and Non-African Populations.

This systematic review compared genetic evidence of pancreatic steatosis across African and non-African populations to illuminate ancestry-specific mechanisms and precision-prevention opportunities. Following PRISMA guidelines for reporting, a search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog for studies spanning 2011 to 31st March 2026. Eligible studies included genome-wide association studies (GWAS), polygenic risk score (PRS), and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses that reported genetic associations with pancreatic fat phenotypes and had explicit ancestry stratification or comparison. Narrative thematic synthesis was performed due to methodological heterogeneity. Six core genetic studies (N > 120,000 participants) were included. The only multi-ethnic GWAS found a strong protective variant of African ancestry, rs73449607 (near PDX1/PLUTO), which reduced pancreatic fat (&#x3b2; = -0.67, P = 4.50 &#xd7; 10&#x207b;&#x2078;) and explained 14.3% of the variance in African Americans (versus 5.3% overall). UK Biobank race-stratified PRS analyses confirmed the lowest pancreatic fat fraction in Black participants, with the strongest HbA1c PRS-fat association in this group (&#x3c1; = 0.23, P < 0.0001). European-dominant GWAS highlighted risk loci, including FUT2 rs601338 (higher fat and chronic pancreatitis risk, OR 1.26). MR studies demonstrated causal links between genetically predicted intra-pancreatic fat deposition (IPFD) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) (OR 2.46 per SD) but not diabetes. African-ancestry genomes confer substantial protection against pancreatic steatosis, whereas non-African genomes are enriched for risk alleles that amplify the non-alcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD)-to-PDAC cascade. These ancestry-differentiated mechanisms position NAFPD as a precision medicine target.

Africa↗
PubMed2026

How Do Climatic Factors Directly Influence the Incidence and Risk of Meningococcal Meningitis Across the African Meningitis Belt? A Narrative Literature Review.

Globally, the highest incidence of meningococcal meningitis occurs within the African meningitis belt, spanning 26 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Meningococcal meningitis incidence is highly seasonal in this region specifically, with outbreaks mostly occurring during the dry season, characterized by low rainfall and atmospheric humidity, high temperature, and increased dust and wind speed. The strong seasonality of meningococcal outbreaks coincides with seasonal variation in climatic factors. This multicollinearity can make it difficult to identify environmental drivers of disease and the mechanisms by which they operate. This review aims to collate existing evidence to better clarify the mechanisms by which climatic variables influence meningococcal meningitis incidence. We examined the impact of dust, wind speed, temperature, rainfall, and land cover on meningococcal meningitis outbreaks. Within the literature, atmospheric dust and wind speed had the strongest statistical association with meningococcal outbreaks and demonstrated greater predictive probability than other climatic variables. However, several climatic factors have demonstrable influences on one another, reflected in the seasonality of meningococcal meningitis. Atmospheric dust can reduce precipitation levels in part through its radiative properties. Decreased rainfall and increasing temperatures can dry out soil, increasing its availability to be uplifted as dust. Alongside, this lower atmospheric humidity increases evaporative demand, leading to faster soil moisture loss and enhanced surface drying. We argue that rainfall, temperature, and land cover variability may act as part of a broader climatic mechanism, increasing atmospheric dust. This increases the incidence and risk of meningococcal meningitis.

Africa↗
PubMed2026

Mobilome-driven antimicrobial resistance in a one health context: evidence and lessons from Africa.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most urgent global health threats and is increasingly recognized as a One Health challenge driven by interactions among human, animal, and environmental reservoirs. Central to the emergence and dissemination of AMR across these interfaces are mobile genetic elements (MGEs), which form an interconnected mobilome capable of transferring resistance genes across bacterial taxa and ecological niches. These elements facilitate the accumulation and spread of multidrug resistance determinants and are shaped by co-selective pressures operating at the animal-environment-human interface. Despite their critical role, genomic surveillance of MGEs remains limited, particularly in high-burden regions such as Africa. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from published genomic surveillance studies, primarily whole-genome sequencing-based analyses, to examine the distribution and dynamics of AMR genes and MGEs across One Health interfaces. We highlight animal-environmental systems as major hotspots for mobilome-driven resistance dissemination and also evaluate key advances, methodological approaches, and persistent surveillance challenges and gaps specific across Africa. By integrating findings from diverse genomic studies, and highlighting key lessons and implementation gaps from One Health studies across Africa, this review underscores the need for coordinated One Health surveillance strategies to better capture mobilome dynamics and inform sustainable AMR control efforts.

Africa↗