CIRCUMCISION protects men against HIV. In fact, the first randomised study of the link between catching the virus and foreskin removal showed such a strong effect that it was stopped early so that all participants could be offered the operation.
Previous studies have shown that circumcised men are up to 7 times less likely to contract HIV (New Scientist, 3 April 2004, p 15). But it was impossible to tell whether this was due to the operation or to cultural factors.
To rule out behavioural effects, researchers led by Bertran Auvert of the French National Institute of 91色情片 and Medical Research (INSERM) in St Maurice, France, recruited 3273 heterosexual South African men aged between 18 and 24 who wanted to be circumcised. They split them into two groups at random, circumcising one group immediately and asking the others to wait two years. After 21 months, 51 of the uncircumcised men were HIV positive, compared with just 15 in the circumcised group. The results were presented last week at a conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Advertisement
鈥淭he study was stopped early so that all participants could be offered the operation鈥�
Two similar studies are due to report in 2007.
