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"Snip for victory"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(10/06/07)
IT may not seem like the kindest cut, but circumcision has been hailed as a
vital new way to combat HIV. In a report issued in March, the World Health
Organization and UNAIDS issued a series of recommendations to increase rates
of circumcision in countries where the HIV problem is most serious.
"We reviewed all the evidence, and the evidence is compelling," says Kim
Dickson, coordinator of the joint WHO/UNAIDS working group that produced the
report.
Studies in South Africa, Uganda and Kenya have recently shown that
circumcised men are on average 60% less likely than uncircumcised men to
pick up the virus.
Dickson says promoting the procedure would have greatest impact in countries
where more than 15% of heterosexual men are HIV-positive, but fewer than 20%
are circumcised. Swaziland, for example, where 40% of adults are
HIV-positive, has held two "circumcision Sundays", on which hospitals have
offered the procedure.
There are caveats, however. The procedure must be done by a trained
physician, and men must realise that it doesn't provide full protection, so
they should carry on using condoms and having fewer partners. "It's not a
virtual condom, so you can't assume you're protected," Dickson says.
Newly circumcised men should also avoid sex for at least six weeks, until
they're healed. - New Scientist Magazine/Premium Health News Services/TMSI
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