Male Circumcision, Part 2
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We now know conclusively that male circumcision
is a significant preventive intervention
in slowing the spread of AIDS.
It's not sufficient unto itself.
Safe sex must still be practiced,
but it makes a huge impact.
Now, USAID, the US development agency,
and UNAIDS
and the World Health Organization
conducted a fascinating analysis to estimate the value
of scaling up circumcision to reach 80 percent
of the adult and newborn male population
in 14 African countries by 2015.
And the results:
There would be 4 million fewer infections by 2025.
And the savings in treatment and prevention
would amount to over $20 billion.
It's really incredible when you think of it.
And it's already happening.
In countries as desperate as Kenya and Swaziland,
tens of thousands of men are lining up to be circumcised.
And it's all happening because of studies
that were conducted in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa
in 2005 and 2006
showing that circumcised men
have a 50 to 60 percent reduction
in contracting ***.
But here's the rub:
In the previous decade, between 1996 and 2006,
there were many studies to show the preventive qualities
of male circumcision.
So, what took so long?
Well, the truth is that the leadership of WHO
and, particularly, the leadership of UNAIDS
lacked the courage
to deal with potentially controversial issues
like male circumcision or men who have sex with men
or injecting drug users or sex workers.
A lot of time was lost.
And a lot of lives were lost.
Fortunately, with new leadership at UNAIDS,
things appear to have changed.
I'm Stephen Lewis.
**Captions by Project readOn**
