• Circumcision

Circumcision

Given the devastating mortality and morbidity associated with HIV and AIDS, many potential prevention measures against HIV infection have been explored. Male circumcision is one of these. This short article from the Public Library of Science report results from the first completed trial of male circumcision for reducing HIV infection in South African heterosexual men.

The author conducted a randomised and blindly evaluated trial in a semiurban area near Johannesburg in which the background HIV prevalence rate among heterosexual men was 4.4 percent. The results showed that, after excluding those men who were HIV-positive at the beginning of the trial, the risk of acquiring HIV infection was significantly reduced by 60 percent in the men who had undergone circumcision. The author shows how the trialists suggest that circumcision could be rapidly incorporated into national plans of countries where circumcision is not widely practiced, while recognising that promotion of circumcision may also lead to undesirable outcomes such as undermining condom promotion. The author argues that the researchers are right to argue that we need to seriously consider circumcision as a potential prevention method, but it seems wise to be more cautious in making recommendations for policy.

• Full text of document
• Publisher details
• Send to a friend