Article here. Excerpt:
'ST. LOUIS — Circumcision has long been a personal decision left up to parents. Doctors say the risks and benefits are negligible. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not take a stance.
But now a health agency is preparing recommendations on circumcision based on new findings regarding HIV transmission. The proposal from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected this year.
...
Critics say the information from Africa does not apply to the U.S., where any benefits to promoting circumcision would be modest at best. In Africa, men primarily contract the virus through sex with infected women. Circumcision has not been shown to be effective in preventing transmission of HIV through homosexual contact, which is the most common cause of infection in American men. Other medical benefits have been deemed minimal. Circumcised boys develop fewer urinary tract infections in their first year (about 1 in 1,000) compared with uncircumcised boys (1 in 100). The risk of penile cancer is reduced in circumcised men, although the overall risk of the disease remains very low.'
