Male Circumcision and HIV

AFRICA: More evidence women at greater risk of HIV from circumcised men

2009-07-17T07:43:13-07:00

If you need a single, pointed example of scientists lacking common sense and of failing to grasp the totality of the circumstances, all you need is to examine a recent study published in The Lancet and authored by Maria Wawer et al. at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Wawer examined the rate at which the female partners of 922 men contracted HIV and then compared the circumcised men's rate of transmission with the intact men. Fully 18% of circumcised men's partners contracted HIV compared with 12% of intact men.

Despite this clear, unequivocal contraindication, the authors state that men should still be offered circumcision regardless of their HIV status in order to avoid the stigma associated with the perception (or reality) of having HIV. In other words, the authors suggest the stigma should be placed on men who choose the rational option to remain intact.

And then, just to be funny, the authors suggest all men be offered circumcision for the laughable, dangerous, and utterly counter-intuitive purpose of reducing the likelihood of circumcised HIV-infected men and men of unknown status from using their status to coerce women to have unprotected sex.

Download Wawer-study-circum-effect-on-women.pdf.

Link: Circumcising HIV-Infected Men Increases Transmission to Women

Renton wants to take away choice, shift health decisions from patient to parents, doctors, third parties; also hates NORM-UK

2009-07-14T08:20:51-07:00

This just in from NORM-UK (edited slightly by me):

Another week, another article from circumcision evangelist Alex Renton attacking NORM-UK, this time in the Daily Mail.

But these are raising [NORM-UK's] profile and exposing a core of support in the British public - enquiries and website hits are up sharply.

[Mr. Renton's latest hysterical outburst:]

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-1199472/It-protects-men-women-fatal-diseases-sexual-infections-So-boys-circumcised.html

[Letters in response to the Observer article (see my post below on the latter):]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/12/letters-big-issue-male-circumcision

...

Mr. Renton defends his own forced circumcision openly, perhaps providing a motive behind his histrionics on the issue. I know it's made me crazy on occasion - but in favor of human rights principles. Mr. Renton, on the other hand, goes in the other direction, failing to discuss consent, contrary indications, and asserting the truly bizarre, claims of a secret fear among UK doctors for refusing to come out full force for infant circumcision and against consent and choice.

The sense in his articles is one of the proverbial scenario of panic when a nut stands and yells "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

Go forth and comment by following the links above!

Normal for Norfolk: A self-centred moron writes...

2009-07-13T11:44:42-07:00

From today's Observer:
"[Alex] Renton's article says male circumcision can reduce the chances of HIV transmission by 60% and lower the incidence of many STDs. Women with circumcised partners are four times less likely to get cervical cancer. So why does the NHS not recommend it?" Rebecca McEwan, Edinburgh
Well, Rebecca, there might be several reasons for that:
1) not all male babies will want to stick their cocks into your vagina. I know this may come as a shock, but some of those babies will grow up to be gay. So the idea that they should have their genitalia mutilated in order to protect you from a non-existent health risk strikes me as a tad self-centred, no?

2) the evidence for the efficacy of circumcision (as a prophylactic for HIV) is at best shaky. The US has a higher incidence of male circumcision than almost anywhere else in the Western world, and yet it also has the highest rates of HIV among those same countries.

[Emphasis All Mine.]

Click on Normal for Norfolk: A self-centred moron writes.... for the rest of the reasons illustrated with images of intact penises in varying states of arousal [NSFW].

Doctors Opposing Circumcision - HIV / AIDS

2009-07-10T10:17:24-07:00

John D. Geisheker, J.D., LL.M., Executive Director for Doctors Opposing Circumcision discusses circumcision in Africa in relation to HIV.

Go to the D.O.C. playlist on YouTube for the first part of this interview.

Alex Renton is an evangelist for infant circumcision

2009-07-06T11:56:27-07:00

Alex Renton is an evangelist for circumcision. His breathless proselytizing of a procedure forced on him and to which he has clearly attached a good part of his identity is the subject of his Sunday Observer article.

Appropriately, his sermon runs in the Life and Style section. Indicative of the hype he employs to peddle the alleged medical "benefits" of circumcision is plenty of hyperbole, such as the use of huge, vast, millions, and "clearly," among other superlatives and adjectives of extremism, to describe the alleged benefits and "no-brainer" he thinks circumcising an infant is with no clear indication for a decade and half or more (assuming his beliefs were grounded in truth on the HIV issue) and without consent.

He trots out the usual suspects, Halperin from the United States and Pisani from the UK, along with a few unknowns, such as one Dr Ondiek, a South African circumciser in the field, to attach punchy quotes to. He also does the country by country comparison without any deep analysis of the significant differences in populations and the myriad factors that impact the epidemics in disparate regions of the world (low heterosexual HIV rates in Indonesia? They're Muslims and Indonesian Muslims, apart from circumcising both males and females, don't have a lot of heterosexual sleeping around).

Of course, his piece wouldn't be complete or well-rounded without a presentation of the United States' circumcision history and the UK's NHS as the baddy in failing to pony up scarce funds to provide circumcisions on demand.

Lastly, and sadly, Renton brags of his powers of persuasion with a tale of tragic success in convincing his cousin to circumcise his newborn baby - against the better judgment and more cautious approach of the NHS in Scotland, a private hospital and even a local mohel.

When the poor child turns to dad and asks why a part of his penis is missing, who will he blame, Uncle Alex or dad? Either or both, the medical establishment of Scotland can rest with a clear conscience.

Keep the pressure on the editors of Mr. Renton by email or phone call:

Contact Life & Style editor lifeandstyle.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk
Report errors or inaccuracies: reader@observer.co.uk
Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@observer.co.uk
Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard: +44 (0)20 3353 2000

Link: Alex Renton on circumcising your children for health reasons | Life and style | The Observer.

AFRICA: Uganda to outlaw female circumcision

2009-07-04T16:52:06-07:00

The irony continues to pour forth from Africa ...

Uganda to outlaw female circumcision
AFP Fri Jul 3, 7:45 am ET KAMPALA (AFP) – Uganda will pass a law banning female genital mutilation, which is rampant among pastoralist tribes in the country's eastern region, the president said in a statement Friday.
"The way God made it, there is no part of a human body that is useless," President Yoweri Museveni told a gathering in the eastern Karamoja district.
"Now you people interfere with God's work. Some say it is culture. Yes, I support culture but you must support culture that is useful and based on scientific information," he added.
Last year, the United Nations passed a resolution that called female genital mutilation a violation of the rights of women and said it constituted "irreparable, irreversible abuse."
The resolution also said female circumcision increases the risk of HIV transmission, as well as maternal and infant mortality. The UN estimates that between 100 million to 140 million worldwide have undergone the practice.

Link: Uganda to outlaw female circumcision - Yahoo! News.

We must all "come out of the closet" for genital integrity

2009-06-29T11:34:46-07:00

The Bay Area Intactivists Group, sponsored by MGMBill.org, marched again this year in the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. The organizers chose the slogan "The Audacity of Pride" to reflect how gay activism has, through sheer will, persevered to the point of making marriage available for all - and to remind us there is still much work to be done.

James Loewen, a Vancouver-based photographer and videographer, came to San Francisco this year to document the experiences of many activists who oppose infant circumcision (intactivists) and their yearly participation in the pride parade. We agreed to work together during the parade and afterwards to document the experience.

You never know what may happen in activism as in life. And so out of the crowd came an audacious supporter indeed. The self-proclaimed "Lady Miss Saigon" jumped the rails and grabbed a sign, hoisting it aloft and walked three blocks or more with us to the end in 4 inch heels.

Apart from the excellent footage James got of her, official media of all sorts, many with actual press passes jumped in the mix and started shooting, reminding me and hopefully us all that we must come out of the closet for genital integrity no matter who or where we are.

Interestingly, it was at this point that a monitor came over and asked for my press pass. I showed him my t-shirt to persuade him I was part of the group. I was flattered. There are many more photos, perhaps 250 in all, which will be made available shortly for various projects.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

PlusNews Global | SOUTHERN AFRICA: Male circumcision - what's the latest on roll out?

2009-06-25T18:33:29-07:00

JOHANNESBURG, 23 June 2009 (PlusNews) - It has been two years since the World Health Organization recommended male circumcision (MC) as an HIV prevention measure, and countries in Southern Africa - the region hardest-hit by AIDS - have been slowly gearing up to provide widespread access to the procedure. IRIN/PlusNews has compiled a list of the progress made so far in eight southern African countries.

Click the link below for a country by country report of the extent that the HIV/AIDS community is wasting massive amounts of time and effort.

Link: PlusNews Global | Southern Africa | Angola Botswana Lesotho Madagascar Mauritius Malawi Mozambique Namibia Swaziland South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe | SOUTHERN AFRICA: Male circumcision - what's the latest? | HIV/AIDS (PlusNews) Prevention - PlusNews | Breaking News.