Softening of Pope's stance on condoms opens scope for dialogue, says UN

Dr Michel Sidibe, executive director of Unaids, said it will help strengthen the fight for greater access to treatment for those afflicted.

Sidibe said the Pope's views were important, even if differences remained between the agency and Catholic Church.

The UN maintains that condoms should be an integral part of HIV prevention programmes, while the Vatican opposes condoms as part of a doctrinal opposition to artificial contraception.

But Benedict said last year that a male prostitute who intended to use a condom might be taking a first step toward greater responsibility by looking out for the welfare of his partner, even if condoms were in themselves not a moral solution.

Sidibe said: "This is very important. This has helped me to understand his (Benedict's] position better and has opened up a new space for dialogue."

While the Pope's comments in the book Light of the World drew praise, conservative Catholics insisted he was not altering fundamental church teaching and that the church's ban on condoms remained.

After three attempts at clarification, the Vatican eventually issued a definitive interpretation from the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith saying that the Pope in no way was changing church teaching. Nevertheless, the impression left was that he had made an opening - and Sidibe latched onto that in his comments yesterday.

Sidibe said previously the "Aids community" and Catholic Church were "talking over" one another and often held opposing views about how to deal with the crisis.

But he said Benedict's words had opened a new possibility for working together, particularly in agitating for greater access to anti-retroviral treatments for the world's poorest patients.

"Yes, there are areas where we disagree and we must continue to listen, to reflect and to talk together about them. But there are many more areas where we share common cause," Sidibe said.

Increasing access to treatment has become an even greater rallying call following the recently published results of a nine-nation study showing that HIV-positive patients who received early treatment were 96 per cent less likely to spread the virus to their uninfected partners.

Sidibe called the research a "game-changer" in the fight against Aids and Vatican officials said it gave new hope to couples where one partner is HIV-positive and who want to have children.