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• Wednesday, March 7, 2007 04:24 PM

  Re: For Real?

  Laurel,

  You write:

  "I agree that 100% condom use is more logical and effective than circumscision, but I have met and spoken to health workers from Uganda, and it is simply impossible in today's Africa for an average male to have access to a regular, cheap supply of good quality condoms."

  So, you're telling me it's impossible for male's to have access to pieces of plastic and to get them educated, but it's possible and practical to strap down as many men as possible into some stirrups and surgically remove their foreskin? Give me a break.

  "We are not talking about the US or even another 3rd world country where this might be the case. For many individuals, a single surgical procedure done by a foreign medical team or something might be a very reasonable solution to HIV prevention."

  That'd be great; unfortunately, it's not a solution. It's only a "mitigating" measure, which may reduce the overall rate of spread, but not prevent it. As I explained above, it's not as if circumcised men have a LOW chance of contracting HIV from a partner during unprotected sex; in fact, they have a very HIGH chance, it's just slightly lower than uncircumcised men!

  Don't tell me getting people to use condoms is "just impossible," when their widespread use would reduce HIV to the point that it would become a rare disease. Doing a genital mutilation surgery one by one to every man you can find to get a HIV spread rate reduced by a few percentage points and give people a false sense of security about their ability to contract HIV, now that's possible? That's the course of action we should be on?

  Let me ask you something: how many African men who get the circumcision surgery are gonna go home and say, "I think I should still use a condom when I have sex." Don't you think they're more likely to say, "I can have sex without worrying about HIV -- woohoo! What's a condom again?"

  It's really pathetic. And this doctor gets hailed as if he's some sort of genius.

  Anyone can cut off an arm to reduce hand pain. But it's probably smarter to teach people how to use an icepack.

  Doctors are supposed to help people.

  —pixelmonkey Read pixelmonkey's other letters
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