Seriously, what do they teach in medical school these days?
Programs to empower sex workers are starved for support, but Bill Gates just gave $50 million to make sure all the men in Swaziland and Zambia get properly circumcised.
Honestly, did no one stop to scratch their head and wonder "huh, I wonder why carving up men's penises should make any difference to the HIV?" Because I feel like this should really be at the forefront of everybody's minds.
As to whether or not circumcision is good or bad I shall decline to comment, because the problem really much more fundamental: yes, circumcision has been shown to dramatically reduce a man's risk of contracting a number of STDs including HIV, but the mechanism of this resistance remains unknown. While the operation would seem to be a relatively benign one, the extreme adaptability of the AIDS virus is likely to render this a short-term solution whose long-term consequences are entirely unknown.
Cane Toad eats Cane Beetle? QUICK! Let's import the species...
D.D.T. kills mosquitoes? QUICK! Let's fog the countryside...
It only takes an iota of evolutionary reasoning to see that these sorts of seemingly magic-bullet solutions are really awful ideas. The whole notion of disease of eradication is basically insane, and the folks making public health decisions really ought to be the ones most keenly aware of this.
It's all very disheartening, and makes me glad that I have plenty of duct tape...
Honestly, did no one stop to scratch their head and wonder "huh, I wonder why carving up men's penises should make any difference to the HIV?" Because I feel like this should really be at the forefront of everybody's minds.
As to whether or not circumcision is good or bad I shall decline to comment, because the problem really much more fundamental: yes, circumcision has been shown to dramatically reduce a man's risk of contracting a number of STDs including HIV, but the mechanism of this resistance remains unknown. While the operation would seem to be a relatively benign one, the extreme adaptability of the AIDS virus is likely to render this a short-term solution whose long-term consequences are entirely unknown.
Cane Toad eats Cane Beetle? QUICK! Let's import the species...
D.D.T. kills mosquitoes? QUICK! Let's fog the countryside...
It only takes an iota of evolutionary reasoning to see that these sorts of seemingly magic-bullet solutions are really awful ideas. The whole notion of disease of eradication is basically insane, and the folks making public health decisions really ought to be the ones most keenly aware of this.
It's all very disheartening, and makes me glad that I have plenty of duct tape...