Male circumcision cuts AIDS risk?

Circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin (prepuce) of the penis. Most of the time circumcision in infant boys is usually performed for cultural or religious reasons, but people believe that this operation provides some medical advantages.

Regarding medical advantages of circumcision, doctors opinion are divided, many of them showed that the medical advantages are considered to be slight, because conditions such as phimosis and cancer of the penis are rare even in men who have not been circumcised. One after another, they said, the minor benefits of circumcision seem to be contrabalanced by the minor risks, so this operation is neither essential nor detrimental to a boy's health

Recently, a study issued in The Wall Street Journal, concludes that male circumcision reduces the risk that men will contract HIV through intercourse with infected women by about 70 percent.

A study of more than 3,000 circumcised men in South Africa was done by the French agency for Aids and Viral Hepatitis. The data, outlined at a conference in Brazil, suggests circumcision could be effective in preventing the spread of HIV among men and shows male circumcision prevented about seven of 10 infections.

UN health agencies have cautioned that more trials are necessary before they will recommend this as a method to protect against AIDS. To have a full conclusion, further trials are being carried out in Uganda and Kenya to measure the effect of circumcision on other populations.

Valerian D is a freelance writer specialized in health issues affecting men http://www.mens-health-events.info/circumcision.php