New study backs Kenya's circumcision drive
New research findings show that circumcised men are less likely to engage in unprotected sex. PHOTO | FILE
MELBOURNE, Australia.
The Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision campaign in Kenya has been buttressed by new research findings showing that circumcised men are less likely to engage in unprotected sex.
A new study has confirmed that men who undergo circumcision do not engage in risky sexual behaviour after the operation.
The study released at the World Aids Conference in Melbourne, Australia, revealed that circumcision can greatly reduce men’s risk of being infected with the Aids virus by 60 per cent.
The study by researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) was conducted in Kenya’s Nyanza region, an area where male circumcision is not common.
COMPLEMENTING CONDOMS
The lead researcher in the study, Nelli Westercamp, however, warned male circumcision should not be taken as a 100 per cent measure in reducing HIV/Aids.
“Male circumcision is supposed to be complemented by use of condoms as suggested by the World Health Organisation,” she said.
She said that during the monitoring sessions, all participants, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, were asked about their perceived risk of acquiring HIV, their sexual behaviours, and their condom use.
“Condom use increased particularly among circumcised men and all other risky behaviours, which included engaging in sex in exchange for money or gifts, sex with a casual partner, or having multiple sex partners, declined considerably among both groups,” she said.
Meanwhile, a new study presented at the conference indicated that women with circumcised partners are less likely to contract HIV than those whose sexual partners are uncircumcised.
CONVINCING EVIDENCE
The study was the first ever in Africa to provide convincing evidence that circumcising males offers a degree of protection for their partners, according to Kisumu Male Circumcision Consortium associate director Mathews Onyango.
The study, conducted last month at Orange Farm in Johannesburg, South Africa, also found that women with circumcised partners are less likely to use condoms compared with those with uncircumcised ones.
“The reduced risk we observed among women with circumcised partners is probably due to lower rates of HIV infection among circumcised men rather than a direct effect on HIV transmission from men to women,” he said
The study was conducted by researchers from Bophelo Pele, a voluntary medical male circumcision centre in Orange Farm funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
