March 18 (Bloomberg) -- France and Germany today criticized Pope Benedict XVI for saying that condoms did not help prevent the spread of HIV AIDS in Africa.

“France voices extremely sharp concern over the consequences of Benedict XVI’s comments,” adding they posed “a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life,” the French foreign ministry said today in a statement distributed to reporters.

About 1.7 million people, mostly women, in sub-Saharan Africa became infected with the HIV virus in 2007, bringing the total number of infections in the region to 22.5 million, according to the latest report by UNAIDS, the United Nations program that deals with HIV/AIDS. That’s two-thirds of the global number of people living with the virus.

AIDS “is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems,” the 81-year-old pontiff told reporters yesterday on board his flight to Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.

Germany today also chimed in on the debate, without naming the pope directly.

“Condoms save lives, both in Europe and on other continents,” Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and Health Minister Ulla Schmidt, both Social Democrats, said in a joint statement. “Modern development cooperation must give the poorest access to means of family planning. And that includes in particular the use of condoms. Everything else would be irresponsible.”

The Vatican today responded to the criticism by reiterating the Catholic Church’s long-held views on contraception.

Benedict “repeated the position of the Catholic Church and the essential principles in its commitment to fighting the AIDS epidemic: firstly, by educating people to be sexually responsible and by reaffirming the essential role of matrimony and families,” Federico Lombardi, the pope’s spokesman, said in a statement distributed by e-mail

The pope is visiting Cameroon and Angola until March 23. It’s his first visit to Africa since becoming pontiff in 2005.

To contact the reporter on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson in Rome at fjackson@bloomberg.net; Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: March 18, 2009 11:32 EDT