Does male circumcision up the risk of male-to-female HIV transmission?
In the evolving world of AIDS prevention, the giddiness over studies showing that circumcision reduces a man’s risk of contracting AIDS from an infected female partner has died down a bit in the wake of subsequent research. It now appears that a woman’s risk of contracting AIDS from an infected man may be greater if that man is circumcised. But the latest news is not completely hope-dashing: The results are preliminary and might hinge on a major condition. In 2006, researchers released the results of three large studies that measured the effect of male circumcision on HIV transmission from female to male. The findings were incredible and consistent: Circumcision appeared to decrease a man’s risk of acquiring HIV by 50 percent or more (see Why would circumcision decrease a man’s risk of contracting AIDS?). But in sub-Saharan Africa, where almost 25 million people are HIV-
