(AP) Circumcision Urged in Curbing AIDS Spread

Circumcision Key to Curbing AIDS Spread

SYDNEY, Australia, Tue Jul 24, 08:30 AM







A U.S. health expert urged governments worldwide Tuesday to endorse circumcision to slow the spread of HIV, saying men without the procedure have a greater risk of contracting the virus from infected female partners.

Experts at an AIDS conference in Sydney also warned that HIV infection rates were rising among men who have sex with men in developing countries because of discrimination and lack of access to health services.

The World Health Organization says male circumcision reduces the risk of female-to-male transmission of the disease by around 60 percent. But only 30 percent of men worldwide have had the procedure, mostly in countries where it is common for religious or health reasons.

Robert Bailey, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois, said studies in Africa showed that uncircumcised men were 2 1/2 times more likely to contract HIV from infected female partners, though many health officials were still unclear about its benefits.

"If we had a vaccine that was 60 percent protective, we would be very happy and we would be rolling it out as fast as we can," Bailey told reporters at an International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney, Australia.

"The next step is to get the leaders of countries to actually come up with policy statements endorsing the practice," said Bailey, who has conducted circumcision-related studies in Africa and the United States.

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