Male Circumcision to Prevent HIV Transmission

The Working Committee on Prevention of the CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS held a discussion May 9th of male circumcision as an intervention to prevent the transmission of HIV.  Dr. Robert C. Bailey, professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and the primary investigator on an NIH-funded circumcision study in western Kenya, presented the scope and early findings of his research.

Dr. Bailey’s study is one of only two currently conducted in Africa. In 2005, another male circumcision study was stopped by its Data Safety and Monitoring Board because the study’s HIV prevention benefits were so striking. Results from the two ongoing studies are eagerly awaited as confirmatory evidence of the effectiveness of this form of prevention.   

In addition to describing the ongoing research, Dr. Bailey discussed recent study results, some of the early observations that initially led to these studies being carried out, and other data bearing on the acceptability and acceptance of adult male circumcision in various populations.