Circumcision 'not absolute protection against Aids'

Circumcision may have medical benefits for husbands and wives, but absolute protection against HIV and Aids is not one of them, according to a urologist specialist in Dubai.

He was speaking in the wake of some studies conducted in Africa which suggested that circumcision lowered the risk of contracting HIV.

The initial findings of the study suggested that circumcised men may be 65 per cent less likely to contract HIV based on a random sample of newly-circumcised men and non-circumcised men.

The study had to stop halfway due to some ethical concerns for the uncircumcised men. It did not consider whether the men had implemented lifestyle changes that could have affected the infection rate.

Dr Al Hussaini said the scientifically proven medical benefits for circumcision did not include HIV protection.

"The benefit of circumcision is that it gives better protection to the wife against cervical cancer. And a man will not develop cancer of the foreskin and less likely to develop skin infections on his genitals related to poor hygiene," he said.

"Don't think that just because someone is circumcised that he is immune from HIV and Aids," the urologist added.