WASHINGTON - Circumcision significantly reduces the risk of contracting the AIDS virus, according to two new studies released Wednesday and that could have significant implications in the fight against the deadly disease.
The trials conducted in Kenya and Uganda showed that men who had their foreskin removed were much less likely to contract HIV through heterosexual intercourse than their counterparts who had not undergone the procedure.
The trial in Kenya involved 2,784 HIV-negative men and showed a 53-percent reduction of HIV acquisition in those who were circumcised as opposed to those who were not.
In Uganda, 4,996 men took part in the study that showed that HIV acquisition was reduced by 48 percent in circumcised men.
The studies, conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States, confirm the findings of a similar French-funded study conducted in South Africa.
"These findings are of great interest to public health policy makers who are developing and implementing comprehensive HIV prevention programs," NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni said in a statement.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of NIAID, told a news conference that the findings could have a major impact in the way policy makers combat AIDS in countries with a high number of HIV infections.
But Fauci and others involved in the two new studies warned that the findings should not lull people into believing that circumcision provides full-proof protection against AIDS.
"It is very clear that this is not a substitute for but an addition to, so we anticipate that the prevention messages (...) will have to have the big caveat that (...) this does not mean that you have an absolute protection," Fauci said.
He also stressed the importance of circumcisions being carried out by medically trained professionals and with patients receiving proper care following surgery to avoid infections or other complications.
The studies in Kenya and Uganda began in September 2005 and were to last through mid-2007 but were halted early because of the significance of the findings.
They involved men between the ages of 18 and 24 in Kenya and between the ages of 15 and 49 in Uganda.
In Uganda, 65 of those who took part in the trial contracted HIV, 22 in the circumcised group and 43 in the other group. In Kenya, there were 69 HIV infections among those who took part in the trial, 22 circumcised and 47 in the other group.
12/13/2006 18:51 GMT