This originally appeared on Zeke Emanuel’s Africa Diaries. This is Part Six.
Dr. Emanuel, from the White House Office of Management and Budget, blogged extensively during a recent two-week trip through Africa. In this installment he discusses the potential for using male circumcision to prevent HIV transmission.
Three separate randomized trials have shown that male circumcision is among the most effective interventions against HIV/AIDS, reducing transmission by about 60 percent. This is a huge impact. As one AIDS researcher has said to me, if we had a vaccine that effective, we would be sparing no effort to distribute and administer it. But widespread deployment of male circumcision has not yet occurred.
He goes on to address issues of manpower, facilities, cost, and cultural barriers. Learn more and read the complete post at The New Republic.


In March 2007, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS/World Health Organization (UNAIDS/WHO) issued normative guidance [PDF] stating that Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) should be recognized as an additional important intervention to reduce the risk of male heterosexually acquired HIV infection and that VMMC should always be implemented as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package.
This package includes the provision of HIV testing and counseling services; treatment for sexually transmitted infections; the promotion of safer sex practices, such as abstinence from penetrative sex, reduction in the number of sex partners, and delay in the onset of sexual relations; and the provision of male and female condoms, and promotion of their correct and consistent use. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) looks to UNAIDS/WHO to set global norms and standards, provide policy and program guidance for the provision of safe and efficient VMMC services, and conduct high-level advocacy.
Learn more about Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision and HIV Prevention
USAID researchers found circumcision does NOT prevent HIV. From a February 2009 report: “In 10 of 18 countries with data, HIV prevalence was HIGHER among circumcised men.” [Emphasis added.] Source: http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/CR22/CR22.pdf Why is USAID supporting the quack science of genital cutting as HIV prevention, even after their own researchers found it to be bogus?