The message that the Catholic Church should be conveying if they cared about saving lives in Africa

The issue has been making me ill since philosopher Stephen Law raised it on his blog/website yesterday and only because I haven't given it much thought until now.

I went looking for some evidence this morning by googling: "spread aids effect catholic doctrine africa". That search yields all kinds of catholic apologist discussion denying what they describe as the atheist myth that Roman Catholic doctrine is helping spread the transmission of HIV in Africa. The gist of the argument is basically as follows: "Without its message of sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage, the epidemic would have been arguably worse, not only among believers but among the general population."

My simple response to this is as follows:

1. People are going to have sex;

2. Unprotected sex spreads the transmission of HIV;

3. Using a condom dramatically reduces the transmission of HIV;

4. Catholic Church doctrine discourages the use of condoms on the basis that such usage promotes promiscuity and infidelity.

5. If the Catholic Church truly cares about maintaining its doctrine AND saving lives, the only only ethically defensible message would be: We don't want you to use condoms because we want to discourage sex outside of marriage but, IF you plan on engaging in sex before marriage, sex outside of marriage or sex in any circumstance where you cannot be assured that your partner is free from HIV, PLEASE USE A CONDOM.

If there are any flaws in my logic, please point them out. The fact that the Catholic Church is not communicating this message has led me to the conclusion that they are just as guilty of murder in Africa than if they were "pulling the trigger".