In a real-world setting, a program of voluntary male circumcision was widely accepted and was associated with a community-wide reduction in HIV prevalence, researchers reported.
Over a 3-year period in the South African community of Orange Farm, a free program increased the prevalence of circumcision by more than a factor of four — from 12% to 53%, according to Bertran Auvert, MD, PhD, of the University of Versailles in Versailles, France, and colleagues.
And without those circumcisions, Auvert and colleagues reported online in PLoS Medicine, the HIV prevalence rate in the community would have been 19% higher than it is.
Importantly, Auvert and colleagues found, there was no sign that circumcision was accompanied by increases in risky sexual behavior, such as not using condoms or having multiple partners.
Michael Smith
MedPage Today
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