Former U.S. surgeon generals Joycelyn Elders and David Satcher revealed during a San Francisco news conference on Thursday that efforts to promote abstinence in U.S. sexual education aren't working. The two said that the rates of sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies and sexual abuse are not been decreasing.

Elders, who President Clinton fired after she suggested that children be taught about masturbation, told reporters, "The vows of abstinence break far more easily than latex condoms."

Satcher said that it would be an "injustice" if schools don't offer sexual education beyond abstinence. Satcher had taken Elders' place as surgeon general after she was forced to resign in 1994 and worked under Clinton for three years and under President George W. Bush for one.

Elders recommended a comprehensive human sexuality program be part of the curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade.