PIP: In Kenya, the church provides a 2-way channel of information on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and could act as a power base in the fight against the epidemic. The views of people are accessed through the church's web of schools, clinics, and vocational training facilities; their needs are ascertained through its development projects, women's groups, and youth groups. The same web returns the moral doctrines and social views of the church leadership to the people. On December 15, 1993, the Catholic Church condemned the use of condoms and any form of birth control; Protestant churches have been less harsh, but also condemn premarital sex, birth control, and condoms. In spite of this, most schools and local clinics, including those run by various churches, are conducting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education and condom distribution programs. In some youth groups, HIV prevention methods are being discussed with the full knowledge of the church hierarchy. Government nurses and health educators have been allowed to conduct classes on family planning, premarital sex, and birth control in Catholic schools. Condoms are distributed within this framework for the prevention of HIV. Although not publicly approved, Kenyan churches, Catholic and Protestant, are permitting HIV prevention programs to enter through their back doors.