AIDS lecture. February 10 1987
Statement of
C. Everett Koop, MD, ScD
Before the Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
February 10, 1087

This is not a lecture; it is a statement made by the Surgeon General before the Committee
on Energy and Commerce, of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was made 8 days
after my previous lecture on AIDS. I had previously made a statement to them about
AIDS in general, and the Surgeon General’s report, this statement had to do specifically
with condoms and much of it is technical in nature concerning the safety of condoms
based upon their construction with latex or animal membranes.

 

This was an unusual subject to have a committee of the House of Representatives
investigating and an anecdote that took place in my own home might explain the climate
of the times better than anything else. As was my custom on the moming that I was to
give this statement, my wife and I were having an early breakfast and discussing my
activities of the day and I told her that I would be addressing a House Committee with a
prepared statement. She wanted to know on what subject and I told her, condoms. Her
response was, “I’m glad your mother’s dead”.

The tone of this statement is factual; it also has laboratory data. I also pointed out that
statistics of efficacy about condoms applied to contraception could not be carried over in
application to the prevention of sexually transmitted disease.

This was the first time that I had made it clear that one of the reasons why condoms failed
to protect against sexually transmitted disease was that they were not worn “from start to
finish (i.e. during foreplay) in a sexual encounter”.

(Because this was a testimony before a Congressional Committee where every word is
important no index is provided for this very short document.)