Uganda: Circumcision And Facts About HIV

opinion

Kampala — President George Bush's administration revealed on Sunday that it will use part of its $15 billion-a-year global Aids programme to promote male circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa as an HIV prevention tool. The news is a welcome development that, for once, puts science at the forefront of the administration's response to this epidemic.

However, both abroad and here at home, educating people about circumcision as a way to slow HIV's spread is a necessarily sensitive endeavour. Everybody involved will have to abandon old bad habits if we are to have a sober dialogue about reducing HIV risk. Public health must respect communities' traditions and individuals' choices; communities and individuals must discard reflexive distrust of public health.

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