Circumcising men who have sex with men (MSM) is likely to have a negligible effect on the rate of new HIV cases in the United States, according to a survey conducted in San Francisco in 2008 and reported Thursday, July 22, at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

Clinical trials in South Africa, Uganda and Kenya have indicated that heterosexual men who undergo circumcision are 60 percent less likely to become infected compared with uncircumcised men. Ever since these findings, public health leaders have sought to promote circumcision as a proven, cost-effective method. In Vienna, ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, and David Okello of the World Health Organization, along with Bill Clinton and Bill Gates, lent their voices to support male circumcision in Africa.

Circumcision is thought to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by removing cells in the foreskin that are most susceptible to infection by the virus.

Whether or not circumcision of adult males in the United States, notably men who have sex with men, will influence the incidence of HIV in this country remains a matter of debate. As recently as March, an analysis of data collected in the United States and other Western countries indicated that circumcision will not necessarily prevent transmission among MSM.

To explore this further, Jonathan Fuchs, MD, MPH, of the San Francisco Department of Health and his colleagues conducted a survey of MSM in San Francisco measuring HIV prevalence, circumcision status, condom use with insertive and receptive anal intercourse, and willingness to be circumcised.

Read the full article on aidsmeds.com.