Could circumcision be the solution to HIV?

CIRCUMCISION can reduce the rate of HIV infection in men by 65 per cent, a leading Israeli specialist said last week.

Dr Inon Schenker is visiting Australia to speak at several Hadassah Australia events, as well as at a Monash University forum, about the health benefits of circumcision. He will also be discussing a South African program he is involved in to prevent the spread of HIV.

He told The AJN the health benefits of the ancient practice far outweighed any arguments that the procedure is cruel.

“Jews and Muslims, because of circumcision, have been saved from dramatic diseases,” Dr Schenker said, explaining that the foreskin contains cells that act “like a magnet” to the HIV virus.

Female partners of circumcised men were also less likely to contract cervical cancer, he added.

Dr Schenker heads up the Operation Abraham Collective (OAC), a group comprised of 11 medical and public health organisations in Israel and Senegal, Africa.

Founded in 2007, the group has been invited to introduce AIDS-prevention programs in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a province with an HIV-positive rate of more than 30 per cent.

As part of a project called “Shesha” (Zulu for quick), the OAC plans to build the facilities and teach the skills needed to cater for high-volume, high-quality male circumcision in adults.

“For us as Israelis, the ability to be welcomed in South Africa, the ability to bring what we can bring, is extraordinary,” Dr Schenker said.

He added that it presented an opportunity for Jewish South Africans, both at home and abroad, to forge closer ties with their countrymen.

“This has never happened before that there was a real junction of interests … and we are glad that Israelis are able to facilitate that.”

Another aspect of Dr Schenker’s visit here is to explore ways to secure funding to assist more hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal.

One of Dr Schenker’s key appearances in Australia was at a Hadassah Australia forum in Sydney on Monday, which was described as “emotionally-charged”.

Together with other ethicists, medical experts and health specialists, he argued the case for and against male circumcision, a practice required of all Jewish males at the age of eight days.

GARETH NARUNSKY