Circumcision halves HIV risk, says new US study after Africa trials

AIDS experts immediately hailed the finding. “This is very exciting news,” said Daniel Halperin, an HIV specialist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development, who has argued that circumcision slows the spread of AIDS in the parts of Africa where it is common.

Uncircumcised men are thought to be more susceptible because the underside of the foreskin is rich in Langerhans cells, sentinel cells of the immune system, which attach easily to the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. The foreskin also often suffers small tears during intercourse.

But experts also cautioned that circumcision is no cure-all. It only lessens the chances that a man will catch the virus; it is expensive compared to condoms, abstinence or other methods; and the surgery has serious risks if performed by folk healers using dirty blades, as often happens in rural Africa. Circumcision is “not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention,” said Kevin M De Cock, director of HIV/AIDS for WHO.