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.
