Q&A: Circumcision an "Opportunity To Take Great Strides Forward" Against HIV
Interview with Mark Heywood
JOHANNESBURG, Apr 30, 2008 (IPS) - Results from trials in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda in 2006 showed that male circumcision reduced the transmission of HIV from women to men by up to 60 percent. On the basis of these results, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organisation have recommended that countries encourage men to be circumcised.
But, promoting this procedure is not without risk.
There is a danger that men may assume circumcision provides complete protection from HIV, and take no further steps to protect themselves. During the six to eight week healing period for the procedure, men are also more vulnerable to infection than before. In addition, many of the procedures are currently performed by traditional circumcisers under conditions that are often unsterile and which may permit HIV transmission.
To get a sense of how these constraints can be negotiated, IPS editor Kathryn Strachan talked to Mark Heywood, director of the AIDS Law Project at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Heywood is also deputy chair of the South African National AIDS Council.
IPS: In light of what the trials have shown, what do we need to do now?
|
|
| |
|
|
What is RSS?
