MidnightCall Magazine
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News From Israel MagazineCan circumcision help prevent HIV/AIDS?
The astonishing answer is yes! In an article published in March 2007, scientists in the United States have confirmed that circumcision can reduce by at least 50% the risk of a man contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS! This news caused much excitement among HIV/AIDS organizations throughout the world. According to Dr. Kevin DeCock, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), HIV/AIDS department: “If decisions are made to scale up circumcision by different countries, it does have the potential to prevent many tens of thousands, many hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions of infections over the coming years.”
Trials involving more than 11,000 heterosexual men took place in South Africa, Uganda and Kenya. In each country, the men were divided into two groups: those in one group were circumcised according to tribal customs, while those in the other group were not. Among the circumcised participants in South Africa, there were 60% fewer infections, in Kenya there were 53% fewer infections, and in Uganda, the figure was 48% fewer. All participants received extensive advice and counseling on HIV prevention.
WHO experts said the trials convinced them after 20 years of observation that the cells in an uncircumcised male were especially vulnerable to HIV. But men should still practice abstinence outside of marriage and other means of protection, said the WHO founder and UNAIDS, the UN agency that coordinated the global fight against HIV/AIDS. “Male circumcision does not provide complete protection,” said UNAIDS Catherine Hankins, cautioning that a false sense of security could lead to a high-risk behavior. While it is clear that circumcision protects the men, more research is needed to determine whether it will reduce the transmission of HIV to women, or reduce HIV infection in homosexual men.
In medical school we learned that circumcision decreases the risks of numerous diseases and infections. During my research for this article, I found numerous papers written by pediatricians and other prominent physicians beginning in 1971, which claimed that circumcision was mutilation and medically unnecessary. This was contrary to what we had been taught. In fact, during my residency in obstetrics, in New York, during the late 1940’s, we routinely advised circumcision to all the mothers
who gave birth to baby boys. Even today, 50-60% of U.S males are circumcised. Besides, why would God make circumcision a sign of His covenant with the Jews, His chosen people?
I recall during the early 1950’s, I had a lovely German couple that had recently come to America. When his wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy, both she and her husband asked me not to circumcise the baby. The only explanation they gave me was that he was a former SS Trooper, and they might someday return to Germany.
Today, in the US, circumcision is on the decline. I wonder if the results of this 20-year research in Africa will reverse this trend?
“This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seen after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:10-11).