CDC Proposes the Counseling of all Males on Circumcision

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, GA, USA) is recommending that doctors counsel parents of baby boys and teenagers, as well as men, on the benefits and risks of circumcision.

The CDC's proposal opens the door to circumcision becoming a topic of conversation any time an uncircumcised male, of any age, goes to a medical appointment. The proposal is the result of many studies in the past 15 years, mostly in Africa, that have found that circumcision lowers men's risk of being infected with HIV during heterosexual intercourse by 50%–60%. The trials also found that adult circumcision reduced the risk of men acquiring two common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2), and types of human papilloma virus (HPV) that can cause penile and other anogenital cancers, by 30%.

The proposed recommendations are intended to assist health care providers in the United States who are counseling men and parents of male infants, children, and adolescents in decision making about male circumcision. The circumcision rate in the United States is now below 40% (and much lower in some parts of the country), down from 81% in 1981, but the majority of men living in the United States were circumcised as newborns. The prevalence of the procedure varies widely, with large geographical and ethnic variations. It is typically less common in Asian and Hispanic communities.

“The compiling of the different data sources may really be sufficient for someone who is a heterosexual male to consider the benefit of circumcision,” said Susan Blank, MD, a pediatrician and chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP; Washington DC, USA) circumcision task force, Which in 2012 stated for the first time that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, and that insurers should pay for the procedure.

The procedure, which removes the foreskin, has been criticized by groups opposed to circumcision, such as Intact America (Tarrytown, NY, USA), who say the health benefits of circumcision in the United States remain unproven, and that the CDC is relying too heavily on studies done in Africa that may not be relevant.

“Beyond stating and restating its support for medically unnecessary circumcision, the CDC fails to provide any solid evidence to bolster the case for circumcision as a valid measure for disease prevention,” said Georganne Chapin, CEO of Intact America. “The studies cited by the CDC purporting to show that circumcision reduces transmission of STIs were conducted in poor rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa over eight years ago. These studies have never been replicated elsewhere, let alone in the United States, and have no relevance to children or men in the developed world.”

Related Links:
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
Intact America