‘Uncircumcised men 8 times more likely to catch AIDS virus’

PUNE, DECEMBER 20 : Two recent studies at the National Institutes of Health Clinical trials in Kenya and Uganda demonstrated that adult male circumcision could effectively halve the risk of HIV infection. Back home in Pune, studies at the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) have shown that uncircumcised men were nearly eight times more likely to catch the virus.

‘’The studies have been conducted in association with Johns Hopkins University (JHU),’’ NARI director RS Paranjape said. NARI deputy director (senior grade) SM Mehendale was one of the authors of the joint studies undertaken by Robert C Bollinger, Steven Reynolds and others at JHU.

While the paper authored by Bollinger and Mehendale was published in 2004 in The Lancet, another recent study was published as a research letter in the prestigious journal on Friday. Mehendale said the studies were being conducted since 1993. “We examined over 2,000 patients visiting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) clinics in Pune. A total of 191 men had already been circumcised. The entire group was enrolled for the study and a consistent follow-up was done for several years.’’

All these studies, which have followed men who are HIV-negative over a period of years, have shown that the effect of circumcision is significant. Researchers believe that cells in the foreskin may be particularly susceptible to infection and hence, circumcision helps in the prevention of HIV transmission. Mehendale, however, pointed out that circumcision did not really prevent the risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea, herpes and syphilis.

‘’The study has also found that uncircumcised men have a high risk of acquiring genetic ulcers and has advised rigorous procedure for treatment at STD clinics as genetic ulcer disease can also act as a co-factor for acquiring HIV,’’ Mehendale said.

In a statement, the president of the International AIDS Society, Dr Pedro Cahn, has said that when performed safely, adult male circumcision represents a powerful tool in a comprehensive strategy to prevent new HIV infections. Studies provide conclusive evidence of the effectiveness of male circumcision, particularly for men in countries with high HIV prevalence. But there is a word of caution — while male circumcision represents the most significant new prevention tool, it is no panacea.

Ads By Google

Message*	Maximum characters allowed

Name*		Email ID*
Subject*		Country*

TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

I agree to the terms of use.

Mail this page