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Male circumcision may not be the answer to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in heterosexual men, a unit of the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) has said.
The MRC's Cochrane Centre said this following suggestions by previous studies that sufficient evidence existed to recommend male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy.
Executive director of the Cochrane Centre, Dr Nandi Siegfried, said in a statement: "Circumcised men do get HIV. Results from current trials may well find that male circumcision is protective, but until we have that information, it would be irresponsible to promote it as a preventive strategy."
She warned that none of the previous studies looked at the possible adverse effects of circumcision, which included the possibility of HIV being passed on during circumcision itself.
"We need to be very careful that we do not send a message saying that, if you are circumcised, you will not get HIV," Siegfried said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions