Kevin Dowling, bishop of Rustenburg, South Africa, believes that the Catholic Church should reverse its position on the use of condoms to prevent HIV transmission. Following this, he received a number of rebukes from the South African papal nuncio. The bishops' conference condemned his words, describing condoms as "an immoral and misguided weapon" in the fight against HIV, and argued that condom use could even encourage the spread of HIV by promoting extramarital sex. Scientific assessment According to sex education experts, abstinence-only sex education is not effective, and comprehensive sex education should be used instead. Research has found that abstinence only education fails to decrease people's risks of transmitting STDs in the developed world. The Church's stance has been criticized as unrealistic, ineffective, irresponsible and immoral by many public health officials and AIDS activists. Empirical evidence suggests that condoms reduce the numbers of those who are infected with an STD, including HIV. Some researchers claim that the primary challenge is getting people to use condoms all the time. The Church's rejection of science on condoms, the main preventative measure in an epidemic that killed millions, caused misery and increased mortality from the epidemic. Medical care for AIDS patients The Catholic Church, with over 117,000 health centers, is the largest private provider of HIV/AIDS care. While not allowing the use of condoms, Catholic Church-related organizations provide more than 25% of all HIV treatment, care, and support throughout the world, with 12% coming from Catholic Church organizations and 13% coming from Catholic non-governmental organizations. According to the Vatican, care providers include 5,000 hospitals, 18,000 dispensaries, and 9,000 orphanages located both in rural and urban environments. Much of the Church's aid effort is concentrated in developing nations – in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Catholic medical centers treat those already infected and make efforts to prevent the spread of the disease. Catholic hospitals were among the first to treat HIV/AIDS patients in the early 1980s. United States By 2008, Catholic Charities USA had 1,600 agencies providing services to people with AIDS, including housing and mental health services. The Archdiocese of New York opened a shelter for AIDS patients in 1985. In the same year, they also opened a hotline for people to call for resources and information. The Missionaries of Charity, led by Mother Teresa, opened hospices in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco in the 1980s