Circumcision helps protect men, not women from AIDS
Circumcision may help protect men from the AIDS virus but it does not protect the wives and female partners of infected men, researchers reported on Thursday.
The disappointed researchers had to stop the trial, which they had hoped would confirm early suggestions that circumcision would protect men and women alike.
But, they said, circumcision is so effective in protecting men that will still likely benefit women indirectly by reducing circulation of the virus in general.
"We were disappointed that the trial did not show protection from HIV infection in women, as was expected from observational studies," Dr. Maria Wawer of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and colleagues in Uganda wrote in the Lancet medical journal.
"The trial was stopped early because of futility."
That's the first I've ever heard about any possible link between circumcision and AIDS prevention. I would never take a chance by relying solely on that factor for protection from the HIV virus. Safe sex is proven to be far more effective for both men and women.
Circumcision helps protect men, not women from AIDS
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