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Studies Confirm Circumcision Significantly Reduces HIV Chances

It`s now official, circumcision reduces chances of getting HIV through heterosexual sex, researchers announced this week, in light of new findings which indicate that circumcision reduces the odds of getting HIV by more than 50%. The new findings support earlier studies, which could be utilized to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa. In the study, which took place in Kenya, 1,391 circumcised men were compared to 1,393 uncircumcised men. Another similar study in Uganda compared 2,474 circumcised men and 2,522 uncircumcised men. The men were tracked for two years, and during this time period the uncircumcised men had an infection rate 51%-60% lower than their uncircumcised counterparts.

The findings were so dramatic and unequivocal that the study was stopped 9 months before its planned end, under the pretext that the findings are so clear that it was unmoral not to warn those uncircumcised of the danger they face. In another study conducted in John Hopkins University, 12 thousand Ugandan nationals were tested. The researchers found that circumcised men, who got HIV, had a 30% lower chance of infecting their spouses with the virus.

From the statistical analysis of the studies, researchers believe that circumcision may prevent 2 million HIV infections and about 300 thousand deaths. Last year 2.8 million people were infected with HIV in Africa, 2.1 million people died. Researchers hypothesize that the lowered infection rate is due to the structure of the foreskin. The inner part of the foreskin is a mucous membrane like the inside of the eyelid or the mouth, which is more vulnerable to HIV. Men who are uncircumcised have longer foreskin and therefore the HIV has more of a chance to inter the system.