Ask HN: Why are Americans promoting bad science that circumcision prevents HIV?

2 points

12 years ago

I don't understand how the issue of circumcision is back in the news again. Is there a religious or profit motive in all this? Why are the CDC promoting "benefits" which are unproven?

http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/CDC-Circumcision-benefits-outweigh-risks-5929334.php

As this Oxford University article points out, the science is bad and the sub-Saharan studies are flawed.

http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/05/when-bad-science-kills-or-how-to-spread-aids/

How is it that developed countries can differ in their approach so much? How are US health officials interpreting data so differently from health authorities in other parts of the world? In Sweden and Norway, the medical profession and the public have been pushing for a total ban on circumcision, and the governments there are under pressure to do so while trying to appease religious groups by allowing the practice only as a cultural exception.