AIDS day & circumcision

[jaclyn7]

Every where I'm turning on the web today mentions circumcision as a component in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.

MSNBC, Bush: AIDS 'can be defeated' http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15971729...5773/?GT1=8816

What's working?
Circumcision, microbicides and microfinance are some of the most promising options being examined as potential ways to prevent the disease.

What can we do counteract this trend while still fulfilling the western world's responsibility to the world in ending the pandemic? How do we promote condoms and other barrier methods, better health care, and remind those who truly believe that science leaves them no other alternative that there are options? I'm outraged at religious groups that refuse to promote safer sex because of their beliefs, how do we show that were not also blindly ignoring the desperate situation.

I truly believe that this re-emergence of the AIDS crisis will be the biggest obstacle that anti-circs will face in the next quarter century and I would love to learn how to counteract these messages. I know that we must remind those in the field of the great steps North America took (for awhile until we all slacked off in safer sex practises, safe injection sites, awareness, etc.) and the fact that even in our circ happy culture we still combat this disease.

[TigerTail]

Considering Bush's credibilty factor lately, I'd suggest posting his glorification of it (as a circ'd male, I'm sure he is so objective ) everywhere you can. spew. Enough people want to distance themselves from anything hje promotes it can't hurt.

(Wtf is 'microfinance'? I think 'microtears' from friction might be a profitable avenue to mention. Break in skin = HIV transmission.) Dumbass. Er, what dumbassishness.

[13Sandals]

op - i understand your apprehension. however, I believe that some major lifestyle factors were left out of the aids/cir equation - as in circ'd males in the regions they studied tend to hold different religious beliefs and sexual practices. I do believe that they will find very shortly that the rate of transmission does not go down - and if it does, it will be very insignificant. They are also 'training' people to do circ's, and with conditions being what they are in the third world - we can expect a lot of infections and complications. Let's not panic. We just have to wait it out and see how this situation evolves.

[jmcqabigler]

Unfortunatly the worry is not just other contries it is that US press is saying that circ cuts down aids so it hurts the anticirc movement here. Where it is relativly safe to do them with qualified professionals. Just one more reason parents are going to be given to circ.:
I especially found it distrubing that it was the first thing mentioned in the list of preventative measures.

[13Sandals]

i agree that the press is not good for circ here - but again, what can we do but wait and see how circing goes in Africa? the US is not a third world country - we have the highest rate of circ for an industrialized country and the highest rate of STD...Europe is largely intact and has a lower incidence of STDs. Based on that alone - this circing craze can't work. and if it does reduce aids by 75% in Africa - we will have to deal with that then.

is it true that Africa has a different 'type' of HIV - as in HIV2 as opposed to HIV1? I thought they had the type that more easily infects women??

[Bm31]

Something interesting I came across. There was a link to a message board on MSN from an AIDS Day article they ran. It posed this question: What measures do you think should be taken to stop the spread of HIV?

I went through 23 pages of responses in that thread and not a single poster mentioned circ at all. Hmmmm. With all the recent propoganda that's been done to promote circ as a "cure," that really strikes me as odd that no one would bring it up. Maybe it hasn't sunk in, which is why they keep pumping out the same press releases. Or, and this may be too much to hope for, perhaps the average person can see what a bunch of crap it all is......

[jaclyn7]

Originally Posted by Bm31

I went through 23 pages of responses in that thread and not a single poster mentioned circ at all. [....] perhaps the average person can see what a bunch of crap it all is......

Lets hope!

[baybee]

Just received this from a doctor:

We keep hearing a lot of ballyhoo about how circumcision prevents HIV infection. This may not be so.

This overlooked paper that was presented at an AIDS conference found that HIV infection was just as common in circumcised U.S. servicemen.

http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/HIV/thomas1/

Also, the CDC has refused to recommend circumcision for Americans.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/fac...rcumcision.pdf