Condoms do not provide 100 percent protection, but for people who are sexually active they are the best and the only method we have for preventing these diseases

Currently, FDA requires condom boxes and packets to state: “If used properly, latex condoms will help to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV infection (AIDS) and many other sexually transmitted diseases.” Many brands also state condoms are highly effective in preventing pregnancy.

When latex condoms are used every time and put on early enough, they reduce chances of pregnancy over a one-year period to 3 percent, compared with 85 percent without birth control. Likewise, condoms cut risk of HIV infection by about 80 percent, to less than a 1 percent chance of infection per year.

In 2001, a law was passed that required the Food and Drug Administration to reexamine condom labels to determine the “medical accuracy” of their description of condoms’ effectiveness in preventing human papillomavirus (HPV) infections as well as other STDs. Since then, there has subsequently been considerable effort to pressure the FDA to add a warning to condoms about their lack of protection.