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A former Director General of the Ministry of Health has advised government to take a holistic look at its decision to add condoms to items on which special levies will be charged, in considering the Special Import Levy Bill. Speaking on TV3�s morning news programme on Wednesday, Dr Elias Sory was categorical in saying that an exaction of taxes on condoms will be �a public health disaster�. He postulated that the condoms were invented to prevent diseases, first and foremost. �When you look at how much it will cost to fight diseases and the temporary money that [the taxes] will bring into the country,� he told TV3�s Wendy Laryea, �I plead with the president to [rescind the decision].� �Wrongly placed� �We have to relook at it as against the successes that we have chalked over the years,� he stressed, outlining that HIV/AIDS, for instance, dropped �from very high values� of 24 per cent to single values due to the use of condoms. �This is a commodity many people are getting used to,� he said of condoms. �This one coming at this time, I think it is wrongly placed,� he noted. Government's decision to introduce taxes on condoms has raised eye brows and stirred public discourse with many, like Dr Sory, calling for the shelving of the idea.