quote[In a quick one minute PBB Teen Edition Plus Update shown a while ago on TV, Alex "hinted" that he had not been *gasp!* circumcised yet, and this of course raised a lot of eyebrows (yup, including mine). Again, I'm not always one to jump to conclusions but this really seems to be the case, whichever way we look at it. We'll know for sure after tonight's show, but for this moment, let me ask you what are your thoughts on the rumor that your dearly beloved Alex Anselmuccio is not yet circumcised or in other, more specific words, supot? ]quote (source:pbb-teen-edition-plus.blogspot.com)
Biblical Quote:
According to the Jewish Bible, circumcision was enjoined upon the biblical patriarch Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as "a token of the covenant" concluded with him by God for all generations, an "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:13), thus it is commonly observed by the Abrahamic religions.(Wikipedia)
Quote: from http://www.alexandersanger.com - In 2007 the World Health Organization announced that it was recommending male circumcision “as an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention.”
Circumcision has a long and often contested history ― socially, culturally, medically and religiously ― which the WHO was well aware of, yet in 2007 two studies, one in Kenya and one in Uganda, were halted early by medical authorities, when the preliminary results showed a 53% and 51% reduction in risk respectively in acquiring HIV infection by circumcised males as opposed to uncircumcised males. The case for circumcision was so clear that it appeared to be a “no-brainer”, even though scientists have no proof of how circumcision might actually work as an HIV preventative. Possible explanations include the keratinisation, or extra layers of skin forming on the penis, that occurs after circumcision serving as a retardant to HIV transmission, or the susceptibility to HIV in the Langerhans cells in the inner foreskin. Langerhans cells are immune cells which act as a reservoir and replication site for the HIV-1 virus. They also appear in other parts of the male and female genitals, including the clitoris. There was no suggestion by WHO that these cells, or the surrounding skin on the organs that contain them, be excised. The WHO circumcision recipe for the goose is not one for the gander.
Some policy makers raised similar objections to circumcision as those raised against HPV vaccination:
- Efficacy ― the WHO itself emphasized that circumcision was not 100% effective, and that, in fact, the HIV infection rate in circumcised males in the African clinical trials was still unacceptably high. There was no evidence that male circumcision protects female partners, or the partners of men who have sex with men. Both these sad facts have been born out by subsequent trials. Circumcised men who are HIV positive transmit the virus to their partners at the same rate as uncircumcised men. In fact, there was an observed increase in infection in the female partners of circumcised men who commenced sexual intercourse before their circumcision wounds had healed, despite extensive counseling of the couples to abstain until they got a go-ahead from a nurse.
- Misallocation of Funds ― some public health officials argued that a more effective use of funds was the current armament of HIV prevention strategies, such as ABC, especially the “C”. It is hard to imagine an effective public health campaign that urged circumcision and continued condom use ― why should a man go through circumcision if he still has to wear a condom?
- Risk Compensating Behavior ― there is a real prospect of an increase in risky sexual behavior by those circumcised, including reduced condom use and more sexual partners. In Africa the widespread male dissatisfaction with condom use and an innate desire for multiple partners and large families would likely be the chief motivators for males to seek circumcision in the first place, so that they would have a ready excuse not to wear condoms.
