This week we skip the questions and ask for answers. First, what original reporting would you like to see on the blog? Second, where are you coming to us from, how did you land on our site, and what do you think about the work we're doing?
Out of town next two weeks ... so see you after I get back!
This week we have three questions. Subsequent weeks will only take up one question. I ramble beyond the first question and no matter how many takes, it just gets worse the more I try. So one question per week it will be.
Who is funding the circumcision and HIV research and why are grants so easily dispensed for it?
Why are there no intact doctors in favor of circumcision and what does this say about the motivation of circumcised doctors to promote the practice?
Why are the majority of doctors conducting circumcision and HIV research Jewish?
My views may surprise.
In summary, the funding is easy to determine and fairly transparent. Grants are as easy to get as the area of research is hot. Circumcision has come around and had its time in the spotlight.
Intact doctors in the US advocating circumcision do in fact exist. Probably not so much in the countries that don't routinely circumcise. Consensus rules more than the doctors' personal circumcision status. However, circumcision status could very well determine consensus.
A disproportionate number of researchers of circumcision and HIV may be Jewish. However, that does not necessarily mean they form a majority. Any research that involves circumcision tends to defend the status quo. Religion probably has less to do with it than one might think.
It's worth noting that the Jewish doctors are also almost all American. And the non-Jewish doctors in this field tend to be exclusively American - or from circumcising African factions. By far, the most common attribute among the researchers is being American, with a few token Australians, as it is being Jewish.
Every Friday, I'll take your questions and answer them in a recording that I will post here and on this blog's YouTube channel, http//:www.youtube.com/MCandHIV/.
Keep in mind that I'm a lawyer, not a doctor. Therefore, my answers will be focused on the public policy angle.
This week, we have one question. How would circumcision play out in public policy if we had a cure or a vaccine for HIV?
Subscribe and receive a numbered copy of The Intactivists: San Francisco Pride 2009-2010 as our thank you! Or buy the book online to support us! Here's why.
Male Circumcision and HIV provides a place for a public health policy debate on the linking of male circumcision and HIV/AIDS. It seeks to address questions of cost versus benefit, the effectiveness of circumcision in the fight against HIV/AIDS in real world settings, and the differing points of view of researchers, the media, and all contributors to the policy discussion.
David Wilton is a lawyer by training. He has a long-standing interest in issues of body integrity and HIV/AIDS. He maintains this site and blogs from San Francisco, California. His primary interests outside of nurturing a debate on the controversial measure of removing sexual tissue to reduce the spread of HIV are in the areas of international relations, languages, and journalism.
CUT, The PODCAST: In this episode, Eli Ungar-Sargon sits down with David Wilton of Male Circumcision and HIV to discuss the issue of circumcision and HIV-AIDS.
Below, San Francisco attorney David Wilton discusses male circumcision, HIV, and human rights.
Circumcision and AIDS at MGMbill.org A decidedly anti-circumcision site with a calm approach to addressing the human rights issues likely to become problematic in the rush to roll out circumcision as an HIV prophylactic.
Circumcision and HIV at circumstitions.com One of the most thorough reviews anywhere of circumcision and the history behind the HIV prevention community's study of it. The science behind this prophylactic tool is much more equivocal than the most recent researchers would have you believe. New Zealand based.
Circumcision and HIV: Harm Outweighs Benefits from circumcision.org From the Circumcision Resource Center, Boston, Massachusetts. This human rights organization has published such books as Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective and Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma. Sitting on its board are a number of individuals affiliated with Harvard and other Ivy League institutions.
Doctors Opposing Circumcision statement on HIV Doctor's Opposing Circumcision is a Seattle based physicians group that provides education, information and advice on medical circumcision and its effects.
Statement on AIDS and Circumcision from the International Coalition for Genital Integrity Another thorough treatment of male circumcision's likely impact on the spread of HIV from an "alliance of organizations dedicated to protecting the normal anatomy of males, females and the intersexed ... [that] was formed to coalesce the many activist organizations, each with a specific focus, into one, common voice."
Does circumcision prevent HIV infection? - NORM-UK John Dalton puts together a critique of the African studies and their weaknesses. He examines the evidence, appropriateness, and possible outcomes from promoting circumcision and calling it a "prevention."
