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----- Original Message -----
From: Mahboob shariff
Subject: Male Circumcision Reduces AIDS Risk: Study  As Salaamu
Alaikum, Male
Circumcision Reduces AIDS Risk: Study
Researchers
told the Third International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and
Treatment, which wrapped up in "There had
always been a suspicion that male circumcision prevented AIDS ... but this is
the first randomized study using control trials," said Dr. Bertrand Auvert, who
coordinated the study for The study was
conducted between 2002 and 2005 with more than 3,000 healthy, sexually active
males between 18 and 24 in Orange Farm, About half of
the subjects were circumcised by medical professionals, and the rest remained
uncircumcised. All of the men received counseling on AIDS
prevention. At the end of
the trial, researchers registered 69 HIV cases, and only 18 of them were in the
men who were circumcised at the start. "Circumcision
prevented six to seven out of 10 potential HIV infections," Auvert
said. Researchers
believe circumcision helps to cut infection risk because the foreskin is covered
in cells that the virus seems able to easily infect. The virus may
also survive better in a warm, wet environment like that found beneath a
foreskin. Circumcision is a
confirmed Sunnah (Sunnah
Mu'akkadah) in Islam as an act pertaining to fitrah (pure human
nature). Guidelines Following the
study findings, the World Health Organization said it was working on guidelines
for qualified medical personnel to conduct safe circumcision as demand for the
operation may soon increase. "While these
results are very promising, we need to put them in a broader context to see the
full benefits of circumcision. So we need to look at results from other
studies," Dr. Charles Gilks, director-coordinator of treatment and prevention
for the World Health Organization, told the daily. A study funded
by the US National Health Institute involving 5,000 individuals is currently
under way in Gilks also
expressed concern that the results of the study would lead many circumcised men
to think they were protected from AIDS and fail to take adequate
precautions. The United
Nations AIDS agency also echoed a similar cautious optimism over the study
findings. "Although the
trial shows promising protective effects of adult male circumcision in reducing
HIV acquisition, UNAIDS emphasizes that more research is needed," it said in a
statement. It added that
two more studies underway in Catherine
Hankins, chief scientific adviser to UNAIDS, said that it was still too early to
encourage widespread circumcision as a way to prevent the spread of
AIDS. She added that
many men would resist circumcision, even if other studies confirmed the
findings. "We know this
is a sensitive issue, and I don't just mean biologically," Hankins
said. There are
around 30 million people contracting the deadly and incurable AIDS virus around
the world, according to the WHO estimates.
The Prophet (SAW) said “Kindness is never present in an act except that it embellishes it and is never removed from any act except that it defiles it” (Muslim). In addition, he (SAW) said, “God gives with gentleness what He will never give with harshness.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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