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goldmonkey
17th August 2010, 05:07 PM
Jew York Times: Steep Drop Seen in Circumcisions in U.S. (http://nyti.ms/9i8Q64)


Despite a worldwide campaign for circumcision to slow the spread of AIDS, the rate of circumcision among American baby boys appears to be declining.

A little-noted presentation by a federal health researcher last month at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna suggested that the rate had fallen precipitously — to fewer than half of all boys born in conventional hospitals from 2006 to 2009, from about two-thirds through the 1980s and ’90s.

Last week, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned that the figures in the presentation were not definitive. But they are already stirring a sharp debate on the Internet.

The numbers were presented to the AIDS conference by a C.D.C. researcher, Charbel E. El Bcheraoui. The presentation was not covered by any mainstream news outlets, but a report by the news service Elsevier Global Medical News, along with a photograph of a slide from the presentation, quickly made the rounds of the blogosphere.

The slide portrays a precipitous drop in circumcision, to just 32.5 percent in 2009 from 56 percent in 2006. The numbers are based on calculations by SDI Health, a company in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., that analyzes health care data; they do not include procedures outside hospitals (like most Jewish ritual circumcisions) or not reimbursed by insurance.

Andrew Kress, the chief executive of SDI Health, cautioned that the data had not yet been published and was still being analyzed, but he confirmed that the trend had been toward fewer circumcisions each year.

He added that measuring the circumcision rate was not the purpose of the study, which was designed to measure the rate of complications from the procedure.

Opponents of circumcision hailed the trend as a victory of common sense over what they call culturally accepted genital mutilation. For federal health officials, who have been debating whether to recommend circumcision to stem the spread of AIDS, the news suggests an uphill battle that could be more difficult than expected.

C.D.C. officials last week declined requests for interviews about the study, but a spokeswoman, Elizabeth-Ann Chandler, answered questions by e-mail. She reiterated that the agency used the SDI figures to calculate the rate of complications, not of circumcisions.

“C.D.C. was not involved in the collection of the data that was cited, nor has C.D.C. undertaken any review of this particular data for the purpose of calculating rates,” she wrote. “As such, we cannot comment on the accuracy of this particular estimate of infant male circumcision.”

But she did not dispute the waning popularity of circumcision. “What we can tell you is that male infant circumcision rates have declined somewhat in this decade,” she wrote.

The study found a very low rate of complications associated with newborn circumcisions; most were considered mild and no babies died.

Organizations opposed to circumcision said parents may be responding to the message their groups have been spreading through their Web sites and a video distributed to childbirth educators.

“Word has gotten out that it’s not necessary, it’s harmful and it’s painful,” said Georganne Chapin, executive director of Intact America, a nonprofit organization based in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Greater awareness about female circumcision may have influenced parents as well, she said, asking, “How can you think it’s O.K. to cut little boys, when you are horrified by the idea of cutting little girls?”

Both the C.D.C. and the American Academy of Pediatrics have been reviewing the scientific evidence on circumcision with an eye to issuing new policy recommendations, but so far neither body has done so, although the federal agency was to have issued its new recommendations by the end of last year.

Officials from the pediatrics academy said its new policy would be issued by early 2011; a task force that studied the topic has completed its report, which is being reviewed by several other committees, said Dr. Michael Brady, chairman of pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who served on the task force. The academy is likely to adopt a more encouraging stance than its current neutral position and to state that the procedure has health benefits beyond H.I.V. prevention, Dr. Brady said.

The World Health Organization in 2007 endorsed male circumcision as “an important intervention to reduce the risk of heterosexually acquired H.I.V.”

“No one is going to tell a parent, ‘You have to circumcise your child.’ That would be foolish,” Dr. Brady said. “The key thing physicians should be doing is providing information on both risks and benefits and allow the parent to make the best decision.”

Several state Medicaid programs stopped covering circumcision after the academy issued its current policy in 1999, and Dr. Brady said that may be one reason fewer parents opt for the procedure. Other possible reasons include a growing Hispanic population that has traditionally been disinclined to circumcision, as well the anti-circumcision movement and a broader trend among parents to spurn medical interventions like vaccination.

Some 80 percent of American men are circumcised, one of the highest rates in the developed world. Yet even advocates of circumcision acknowledge that an aggressive circumcision drive in the United States would be unlikely to have a drastic impact on H.I.V. rates here, since the procedure does not seem to protect those at greatest risk, men who have sex with men.

And while studies in Africa found that circumcision reduced the risk of a man’s becoming infected by an H.I.V.-positive female partner, it is not clear that a circumcised man with H.I.V. would be less likely to infect a woman.

Publico Pro Se
18th August 2010, 05:26 AM
Easy to understand why the drop in the snip, snip rate in the U.S. I remember reading a few years back the union representing the doctors who preform circumcisions demanding more money. The hospitals didn't want to give them more money arguing the doctors got a lot of tips.

keehah
18th August 2010, 05:59 AM
This is going to hurt anal sex rates about 20 years from now.

ShortJohnSilver
18th August 2010, 06:25 AM
Do Mexicans or other illegal aliens do infact circumcision?

Also, (conspiracy hat on) maybe the purpose was that after WWII the Jews figured having everyone circ'ed would make it easier for them to blend in. Since this is no longer needed, no need to continue circ'ing the sheeple.

horseshoe3
18th August 2010, 07:11 AM
That would be a good conspiracy except for the fact that I can't remember the last time I saw someone else's dick. And even then, I didn't look long enough to see if it was circumcised. Maybe you look a lot closer than I do. ;D

Phoenix
18th August 2010, 07:29 AM
Despite a worldwide campaign for circumcision to slow the spread of AIDS


Foregoing anal sex and loose sex will accomplish that far more effectively. But promotion of unnecessary circumcisions and promotion of perversion go hand-in-hand, eh?

Phoenix
18th August 2010, 09:10 AM
This is big news for the power grid. Places with a large population of circumcised males, like South Africa and Detroit,suffer from blackouts and brown outs. Whereas, states like Montana and Wyoming where there isn't as many circumcised males have the most reliable power in the world.


AIDS is caused by kickasstorrents.com.

Ash_Williams
18th August 2010, 11:01 AM
Also, (conspiracy hat on) maybe the purpose was that after WWII the Jews figured having everyone circ'ed would make it easier for them to blend in. Since this is no longer needed, no need to continue circ'ing the sheeple.

Muslims do it too.

RJB
18th August 2010, 12:13 PM
I'm sure most dads change their minds when they see the restraint boards.
http://www.listen2yourgut.com/blog/blogimages/2009/04/circumcision-restraint-board3.jpg

RJB
18th August 2010, 12:15 PM
Muslims do it too.
301ouncer put me on permanent ignore when I asked him to explain how getting some skin cut off your weiner gets you a ticket to heaven.

ShortJohnSilver
18th August 2010, 03:07 PM
Muslims do it too.
301ouncer put me on permanent ignore when I asked him to explain how getting some skin cut off your weiner gets you a ticket to heaven.


Maybe he didn't want to give you any more "tips" ... ;D