Yes!

Latex condoms have been tested and retested by manufacturers, researchers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make sure you are getting great protection.

And you are! When you use a condom correctly each time you have sex, you are getting a lot of help from your little friend. Just check out these facts (and, for you skeptics, the research behind them):

Latex condoms are highly effective in preventing the sexual transmission of HIV during vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse.

You may be interested to know that in a two-year study of couples in which one person was already infected with HIV and the other person wasn't, not one uninfected partner contracted HIV when the couple used condoms correctly each time they had sex.

When used correctly, latex condoms are 98-percent effective at preventing pregnancy, and highly effective at preventing most sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes and syphilis.

Have you ever heard that condoms are "porous"? It isn't true. Latex is resistant to the small viruses and bacteria that cause STDs. This means that even though viruses and bacteria are very small, they still cannot pass through latex condoms.

Using condoms lowers women's risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and of developing cervical cancer, a disease associated with HPV. Consistent use of condoms can also help people clear HPV infection and/or reduce their risk of re-infection.

What you may not know about HPV is that many people's bodies naturally defeat this virus and "clear" it from their system. When a woman who has been exposed to HPV uses condoms with her partners, she reduces their exposure to HPV, which allows her body to more successfully fight off and clear HPV.

Why are condoms so great at preventing most STDs?

Because they prevent partners from sharing fluids, such as semen and vaginal fluids, and they prevent skin-to-skin contact between partners in the places they are most likely to have STDs, such as on the shaft of the penis or a woman's labia.

Condoms lower your chances of getting or giving a skin-to-skin STD, such as herpes or HPV, but they can't completely eliminate the risk. Condoms can't prevent infections from spreading if a person has an infection on the skin not covered by the condom. For example, if a person has a herpes sore on their upper thigh, then his or her partner could rub against it and also become infected with herpes.

Why are condoms so great at preventing pregnancy?

Because they "trap" semen! They provide a barrier to semen entering a woman's vagina to begin a pregnancy.

For example, if 100 couples use condoms perfectly each time they have sex for an entire year, only two pregnancies would happen.

If 100 couples use condoms and sometimes use them incorrectly or forget to use them during an entire year, then 15 pregnancies would happen.

Do you know how to use a condom correctly?  Real Teens, Real Life has two great animations all about how to use condoms correctly: Marvin the Condom and Condom Use Game. Test your skills!