Infant circumcision is safe, suggests study
It may be noted that male circumcision is the amputation of some or all of the foreskin called prepuce from the penis.
Dr Helen Weiss informs, “Male circumcision is commonly practiced and will continue to occur for religious, cultural and medical reasons. There is a clear need to improve safety of male circumcision at all ages through improved training or re-training for both traditional and medically trained providers.”
“And it must be ensured that providers have adequate supplies of necessary equipment and instruments for safe circumcision,” he adds.
Study details
The researchers collected data from 52 past studies done on the subject from 21 countries to come up with this finding.
They examined the effect of neonatal, infant, and child circumcision through the gathered material and found that tiny tots who were less than one year old showed lesser frequency of adverse effects associated with circumcision. The severe complications were also relatively lower in these infants.
Adverse effects of circumcision include excessive bleeding, swelling, and infections.
The systematic study also found that circumcision done by medical experts on children aged one year or older suffered more complications with lesser adverse effects.
Severe complications were, however, reported in kids who got the procedure done by inexperienced practitioners who lacked the necessary equipment.
“The whole subject of Israeli excellence in saving lives by promoting male circumcision for HIV prevention could be taken up by American Jewish leaders as the new paradigm for Israel-Diaspora cooperation for global health causes,” says study co-author, Dr Inon Schenker of the Jerusalem AIDS Project.
Circumcision and AIDS
Past data has also helped the researchers conclude that circumcision in infant boys can reduce the chances of acquiring HIV/AIDS by 60 per cent.
This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS recommends neonatal and adult circumcision.
The study and its findings have been detailed in the February issue of the online medical journal, BioMed Central Urology.