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Circumcision is Gathering Pace
Circumcision is gathering pace as an accepted HIV prevention intervention, following an announcement that the US government’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) programme will fund circumcision programmes in southern Africa as part of HIV prevention activities.
However, there remain significant disagreements regarding how to introduce circumcision as a prevention activity, and its likely impact. One of the biggest uncertainties and areas of controversy is its effect on women.
A large study was recently published confirming what has long been suspected: male circumcision doesn’t reduce a woman’s risk of catching HIV if her partner already has HIV. Indeed, www.aidsmap.com and other data shows that women with an HIV-positive partner could be at higher risk of HIV infection during the period of wound healing if sexual relations resume too soon.