Study Finds Circumcision Does Not Protect Gay Men

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Study Finds Circumcision Does Not Protect Gay Men

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Circumcision does not help protect gay men from the virus that causes AIDS,

according to the largest U.S. study to look at the issue.

UNAIDS and other international health organizations promote circumcision as an

important strategy for reducing the spread of HIV, particularly in Africa. There

has not been the same kind of push for circumcision in the United States.

For one thing, nearly 80 percent of American men are already circumcised -- a

much higher proportion than in most other countries. Worldwide, the male

circumcision rate is estimated at about 30 percent.

Also, although HIV spreads primarily through heterosexual sex in Africa and some

other parts of the world, in the United States it has mainly infected gay men.

About 4 percent of U.S. men are gay, according to preliminary CDC estimates

released at a conference this week. They account for more than half of the new

HIV infections each year.

-- Associated Press

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/25/AR2009082503271.\

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