Adult Male Circumcision

What is Adult Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention?

Medical male circumcision refers to the surgical removal of some or all the foreskin of the penis by a trained health professional. The research that has been done to date also shows that medical male circumcision reduces men’s risk of HIV infection and genital ulcer disease. It is believed that removing the foreskin with the vulnerable cells and the resulting toughening of the skin covering the penis decreases a man’s risk of acquiring HIV during sexual intercourse.

Medical male circumcision refers to the surgical removal of some or all the foreskin of the penis by a trained health professional. The research that has been done to date also shows that medical male circumcision reduces men’s risk of HIV infection and genital ulcer disease. It is believed that removing the foreskin with the vulnerable cells and the resulting toughening of the skin covering the penis decreases a man’s risk of acquiring HIV during sexual intercourse.

Global public-sector and philanthropic investment in R&D and operations research related to adult male circumcision totaled US$20.3 million in 2011. While data from South Africa, Kenya and Uganda have already shown that male circumcision reduces the individual risk of HIV infection by 60 percent, there had been no evidence of a preventive effect at the community level before 2011. Results released in July 2011 from the ANRS Orange Farm randomized control study in South Africa indicated that rollout in

the southern and eastern regions of Africa can markedly decrease the spread of HIV in high- prevalence areas. The results of this trial have spurred development agencies to invest in adult male circumcision for up to 15 million men in Africa as a highly cost-effective way to prevent the spread of HIV. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding for implementation research related to adult male circumcision programs totaled US$500,000 in 2011. The US has provided support for three-quarters of the nearly one million male circumcisions performed for HIV prevention in recent years. PEPFAR announced that it will support more than 4.7 million procedures in the southern and eastern regions of Africa from 2012 to 2013.