Circumcision helps reduce risk of STDs

Washington, March 26: Circumcision, the removal of some or the entire foreskin from the penis, may significantly reduce the risk of herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV), results of a latest trail suggest.

While circumcision is already known to cut the risk of HIVdefine infection sharply, the latest results showed that circumcision in heterosexual men cut odds of contracting cancerdefine-causing human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes too.

The study, led by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Makerere University in Uganda, followed nearly 3,500 men in the rural Rakai region of Uganda.

While 1,684 were immediately circumcised, 1,709 remained uncircumcised until the end of the study. Researchers periodically surveyed their sexual risk-taking behavior.

Follow-up analysis after two years revealed a significant reduction in the rates of sexually transmitted infections. Circumcised men had a 25 percent reduced risk of contracting herpes virus and a 35 percent decreased risk of catching the HPV infection, the cause of cervical cancer in women, as opposed to their uncircumcised counterparts.

"These new data should prompt a major reassessment of the role of male circumcision not only in HIV prevention but also in the prevention of other sexually transmitted infections,” Dr Judith Wasserheit from the University of Washington wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study features in its latest edition.

Wasserheit dubbed the results as a “double whammy”, as a slashed risk of STDs in men would mean a corresponding reduction in the risk of infection in women.

Furthermore, easing the doubts on the long-held belief that circumcision reduces sexual sensitivity for men, researchers claimed that circumcision may not make a difference when it comes to male sexual sensation.

But the issue received its share of criticism from those who question its credibility. They claim that the procedure has traumatic aftereffects. Also, “male circumcision will have little impact on HIV risk for boys born in the UK, where the risk of acquiring HIV heterosexually is very low. Girls can be vaccinated against HPV and so protected from cervical cancer, and condoms protect against herpes,” critics maintained.