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Male Circumcision to Prevent HIV Transmission and Acquisition: What Else do We Need to Know?

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‘The findings suggest that circumcision should be advocated, just as we advocate condoms...We’ve got to do everything we can to decrease the rate of transmission of this disease.’ (Marx, 1989).

Abstract

There is growing interest and controversy regarding the promotion of male circumcision (MC) for the prevention of HIV transmission in Africa. Three randomized controlled studies has so far been stopped prematurely as evidence accumulated that showed that circumcision was superior to no circumcision in preventing HIV acquisition among sexually active men in Africa. To some people, the evidence is overwhelming and MC should be promoted aggressively. Others suggest cautious decision making. This paper attempts to review a continuum of perceptions and suggest that the decision to scale-up male circumcision cannot just bebased on randomized controlled trial results.

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Acknowledgments

The author is supported by The AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) of the Fogarty International Center to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Fogarty International Center is however not responsible for the content of the paper or the decision to publish this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health, University of Malawi, College of Medicine, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 3, Malawi

    Adamson Sinjani Muula

  2. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Adamson Sinjani Muula

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  1. Adamson Sinjani Muula
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Correspondence to Adamson Sinjani Muula.

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Muula, A.S. Male Circumcision to Prevent HIV Transmission and Acquisition: What Else do We Need to Know?. AIDS Behav 11, 357–363 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-007-9211-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-007-9211-1

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