|
| ||||||
MEDIA CENTER Male Circumcision Appears to Protect Men at Risk of HIV Infection NEW YORK (19 June 2000) — A growing body of scientific evidence supports the conclusion that circumcised men in sub-Saharan Africa are at reduced risk of HIV infection-possibly by as much as 50 percent. Researchers involved in HIV prevention consider it premature, however, to recommend large-scale circumcision programs until important cultural, medical, programmatic, and ethical issues are resolved. These conclusions and recommendations from a recent international scientific conference may be relevant for any part of the world where the HIV epidemic continues to expand and where heterosexual transmission is a major issue. A just-published report of a conference of experts convened by the Horizons Program, implemented by the Population Council, details both the scientific evidence of the benefits of male circumcision to those at risk of HIV infection and the many factors that must first be explored before circumcision is recommended. Horizons undertakes global HIV/AIDS/STI prevention and care research in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. "Research shows that uncircumcised men in certain parts of Africa are twice as likely as circumcised men to be HIV infected," says Dr. Johannes van Dam, deputy director of the Horizons Program, "but we still do not know the practicality, feasibility, acceptability, and cost-effectiveness of male circumcision as an HIV intervention." "Other key issues that have not been resolved include the role that the anatomy of the foreskin and penile hygiene may play in HIV transmission," said van Dam. "We also do not know whether male circumcision affects risk behavior by men and women, such as the decision to use condoms, or whether it negatively affects women's ability to negotiate condom use. And we want to make sure that advocating male circumcision does not have negative repercussions on efforts in many communities to eliminate female genital cutting." In addition, participants at the international conference made the following research recommendations:
|
