| ■ Circumcision Can Slow AIDS Spread, Conferees Told | 2007.07.28 |
| Circumcision should be endorsed by governments worldwide as a key way to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS, a U.S. expert told attendees Tuesday at an international AIDS conference in Sydney, Australia. University of Illinois epidemiology professor Robert Bailey said African studies showed that uncircumcised men were 2 1/2 times more likely than circumcised men to contract HIV from infected women, the Associated Press reported. He urged international leaders to issue statements endorsing the practice, noting that global agencies would otherwise be reluctant to voice support for the procedure -- for fear of being seen as imposing foreign values, the wire service said. The World Health Organization has said that male circumcision reduces the transmission of HIV from infected women to men by about 60 percent. But only about 30 percent of the globe's men have had the procedure, the wire service said. Circumcision is believed to be an effective way of slowing the spread of HIV because skin cells in the foreskin are thought to be especially vulnerable to the virus, the AP said. |