Dec 18, 2006Quickie Link: NIH Circumcision Policy Criticized
By vanrozenheim
(New York, USA) A coalition of international medical experts and bioethicists who oppose circumcision generally have denounced the National Institutes of Health endorsement of circumcision as a solution to the HIV/AIDS crisis as being irresponsible. George Denniston, MD, President of the international group, Doctors Opposing Circumcision, says "The NIH suggestion is dangerous folly. Worse, the NIH plan will permit circumcised men to claim they are immune to HIV and engage in unsafe sex. In cultures where women are obliged to submit, this is a recipe for a human rights disaster to women on a massive scale. Safe-sex education and widespread availability of condoms are the only answers before a vaccine is developed." Critics of the plan, which include the umbrella group International Coalition for Genital Integrity, note that traditional African cutting and scarring rituals, and even modern medical care, are both proven sources of HIV infection.
