penis

Circumcision and HIV/AIDS - II

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 03:23

Ritual circumcision is a different area but its practice in South Africa, for example, has important ramifications for the promotion of circumcision as an HIV/AIDS prophylactic.

This story was in the news this week:

Eight boys have died and three are in hospital after botched circumcisions in the South African province of Mpumalanga, officials say. The teenagers were at an initiation school in the town of Kwamhlanga. One of the initiates died in hospital and the seven others were found by health officials dead at the school.

Circumcision and HIV/AIDS - I

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 03:06

An article in the Independent on May 19 2009 reports that: "Three landmark randomised controlled trials conducted in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda between 2005 and 2007 demonstrated that adult male circumcision reduced the risk of contracting HIV by 50 to 60 per cent."

Circumcision: A Response to Amy Tuteur

Thu, 01/07/2010 - 21:05

This is a response to a controversial piece in Science Based Medicine by Amy Tuteur, M.D. on circumcision: "The case for neonatal circumcision," which cites a recent journal paper of the same title [1]. Beyond calling for the American medical establishment to put pressure on parents to circumcise their infant children, the article implicitly compares those who don't circumcise or who are opposed to circumcising infants to anti-vaccination activists.

"A Pigeon Stole My Penis"

Wed, 05/14/2008 - 17:48

Motorcycle taxi drivers in the village of Gwagwalada, Abuja, in central Nigeria, are threatening to strike unless a passenger, Mohammed Ma’aji, returns a penis that they allege the white "spiritual pigeon" he was carrying stole from one of their number. Yes, to be honest, it's not a sentence I thought I'd be writing this morning.