WHO advocates male circumcision

BBC NEWS | Health | WHO agrees HIV circumcision plan

The World Health Organisation today recommended that the circumcision of boys be used as a means of preventing AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, although obviously not in the absence of barrier contraception or “delaying sexual debut and reducing the number of sexual partners”. The effect – a reduction of new infections by half or more – appears to have been on female-to-male transmission of the HIV virus; the effect on women is still unclear. No doubt the anti-circumcision crowd will have something to say, but the report is said to demonstrate that it’s not just down to differences in sexual behaviour.