Article “Move to ban circumcision” includes the following:
“In Africa, where HIV incidence is high, studies show circumcision can significantly reduce rates of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Incidence of penile cancer is virtually nonexistent among circumcised males, but that disease is rare in any case.”
WATCHDOG: Good catch. Circumcision is the single most effective public health method yet encountered for preventing the spread of HIV / AID. Unfortunately, while some African cultures practice it, others eschew it considering it unmanly. It also prevents the spread of other disease. What apparently started as a religious observance by Muslims and Jews has turned out to have health benefits. See below:
US CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: …“In these studies, men who had been randomly assigned to the circumcision group had a 60% (South Africa), 53% (Kenya), and 51% (Uganda) lower incidence of HIV infection compared with men assigned to the wait-list group to be circumcised at the end of the study. In all three studies, a few men who had been assigned to be circumcised did not undergo the procedure, and vice versa. When the data were reanalyzed to account for these occurrences, men who had been circumcised had a 76% (South Africa), 60% (Kenya), and 55% (Uganda) reduction in risk for HIV infection compared with those who were not circumcised. The Uganda study investigators are also examining the following in an ongoing study: 1) safety and acceptability of male circumcision in HIV-infected men and men of unknown HIV infection status, 2) safety and acceptability of male circumcision in the men’s female sex partners, and 3) effect of male circumcision on male-to-female transmission of HIV and other STDs.” …
