24 June 2008

Circumcision and STDs

A recent study is one of good and bad news with respect to circumcision. A study conducted in Africa by the US National Institutes of Health evidenced that the rates of HIV / AIDS infection in circumcised men fell by 50% compared to their non-circumcised colleagues. However, another study shows that circumcision does not seem to protect men from other more common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These are part of a number of studies that have examined this issue.

A study out of South Africa showed even more promising figures where circumcision was shown to reduce HIV infection by 60%. For African countries that are in the midst of a HIV / AIDS pandemic these are encouraging figures.

Nevertheless, a New Zealand study has shown that circumcision does not protect men from other common STDs like herpes, chlamydia, and genital warts.

The results and discussions of the studies can be found in the International Journal of Epidemiology (online) and the Journal of Pediatrics, 152: 383-387, 2008.

4 comments:

Rishardana said...

Wow at the picture :D

In some parts in Indonesia back in the days we use sembilu for circumsision. Sembilu is from Bamboo, shredded into very thin pieces and was considered(arguably) as sharp as blade.

First the 'victim' was asked to dip himself in some river early morning. Presumably to make him and his body parts numb. And then they do the procedure. Of course with some wayang golek all night.

Somehow the word sembilu and seeing this picture send chills down my spine. There's also a proverb "Hatiku bagai tersayat sembilu" ... :D

Rob Baiton said...

It is a bit more than a shiver!

And I am absolutely certain that I would not have been in the mood for wayang golek!

A bottle of Jack might have done the trick!

Rishardana said...

Hahaha :D yeah ... some parents give bycicle, the kid would be dying to ride the bike but can't.

When I've got mine (using regular scalpel if I may add), parents gave me several sets of Kho Ping Hoo (a legendary kungfu storyteller).

Or is this overshare? haha sorry ...

Rob Baiton said...

Share away!

Just do not send me any photos of the end result!

Photos would be overshare!