La circoncision féminine prémunit contre le VIH
Les médias de masse du monde ont fait la publicité de la circoncision en rapportant le résultat d'une étude rapportée dans une conférence sur le sida qui s'est déroulée à Rio, selon laquelle la circoncision masculine protège (plus ou moins) contre le sida. Les circonciseurs et leurs adeptes se sont empressés de reprendre à leur compte une déclaration quasi criminelle (qui pourrait entrainer une hausse du taux de sida dans les pays où les hommes sont circoncis et se croient à l'abri; sans penser que VIH peut passer par le méat urinaire).
Ce qui a été dit à la conférence de Rio, ce que les médias n'ont pas dit, c'est qu'une étude menée en Tanzanie montre que la circoncision féminine (l'ablation des peaux de vulve) joue le même rôle protecteu(r contre le VIH (tant il est évident qu'un sexe amputé ne peut plus rien contracter).
Faut-il s'attenddre à ce que les procirconcision vont promouvoir la circoncision féminine avec la même hâte qu'ils promeuvent la circoncision masculine?
Dans un monde du foutage de gueule généralisé où tout est prétexte à circoncire les garçons, jusqu'aux mensonges les plus éhontés, faut pas y compter:
10.7 492 10.7 Sexual transmission
Female Circumcision and HIV Infection in Tanzania: for Better or for Worse?
26.7 | 10:35 | Manaus | 3138
Stallings R.Y.1, Karugendo E.2
1ORC Macro, Calverton Maryland, United States of America, 2National Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania
Prevention | TuOa0401 | Rebecca Stallings
Introduction: It has been postulated that female circumcision might increase the risk of HIV infection either directly, through the use of unsterile equipment, or indirectly, through an increase in genital lacerations or the substitution of anal intercourse. The authors sought to explain an unanticipated significant crude association of lower HIV risk among circumcised women [RR=0.51; 95% CI 0.38,0.70] in a recent survey by examining other factors which might confound this crude association.
Methods: Capillary blood was collected onto filter paper cards from a nationally representative sample of women age 15 to 49 during the 2004 Tanzania Health Information Survey. Eighty-four percent of eligible women gave consent for their blood to be anonymously tested for HIV antibody. Interview data was linked via barcodes to final test results for 5753 women. The chi-square test of association was used to examine the bivariate relationships between potential HIV risk factors with both circumcision and HIV status. Restricting further analyses to the 5297 women who had ever had sexual intercourse, logistic regression models were then used to adjust circumcision status for other factors found to be significant.
Results: By self-report, 17.7 percent of women were circumcised. Circumcision status varied significantly by region, household wealth, age, education, years resident, religion, years sexually active, union status, polygamy, number of recent and lifetime sex partners, recent injection or abnormal discharge, use of alcohol and ability to say no to sex. In the final logistic model, circumcision remained highly significant [OR=0.60; 95% CI 0.41,0.88] while adjusted for region, household wealth, age, lifetime partners, union status, and recent ulcer.
Conclusions: A lowered risk of HIV infection among circumcised women was not attributable to confounding with another risk factor in these data. Anthropological insights on female circumcision as practiced in Tanzania may shed light on this conundrum.
http
... hiv-knowledge.org/iasmaps/preventionT.htm
'Circumcision can't prevent HIV'
30/09/2005 12:15 - (SA)
Cape Town - Organisations including the International Coalition of Genital Integrity on Friday cautioned against reports indicating that mass circumcisions could help prevent the spread of HIV.
"HIV cannot be prevented by mass circumcisions. Circumcision may result in a false belief that safe-sex practices are no longer required, implying a worsening of the incidence of HIV infection," said the National Organisation of Circumcision Information Resource Centres-SA (Nocirc-SA).
The organisation was encouraging the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to reconsider advocating circumcision, after its congress where a study presented suggested that a circumcised penis was more resistant to HIV infection.
"This study could dangerously mislead people into believing that if they are circumcised, they could be protected against HIV."
Creating a false impression
Dean Ferris, of the National Organisation of Restoring Men-SA, said the natural response of a circumcised male to these reports would be to assume he is more resistant to HIV infection.
"The implication being that even more circumcised men may engage in unsafe sexual practices under the false impression that they won't contract HIV.
"Equally troublesome is the fact that this study offers no indication on whether or not the receptive partner of the circumcised male will become more or less vulnerable to HIV infection."
Ferris said the female receptive partner's risk will likely increase without adequate protection.
A second study, unreported by the media, and performed by Stallings amongst African females in Tanzania, showed HIV transmission was also reduced among circumcised females.
'Irresponsible reporting'
"Such selective reporting suggests the need for analysis from a gender prejudice point-of-view and suggests that male and female circumcision should be dealt with as a unity."
Ferris said the foreskin is not just a piece of skin, but rather a highly specialised erogenous and immunological structure, which cannot be cut off like hair or fingernails.
"We are therefore concerned about the frequent uncritical reference to particularly the male study in the media. The promotion of its uncorroborated findings, without adequate understanding of the behavioural consequences, is highly irresponsible."
Ferris said feedback offered to the organisation indicated that some individuals were now advocating "chop-shops," where parents will be able to bring their children for the non-consensual, non-therapeutic removal of their foreskins.
Ferris said when extrapolating globally, the hypothesis of the study could be proven to be wrong.
For example, the United States has a very high rate of circumcision coupled with the highest HIV infection rate in the developed world, while Scandinavia on the other hand has one of the lowest rates of circumcision in the world coupled with a comparatively low incidence of HIV infection.
http ... news24.com/News24/South [...] 27,00.html
The snip doesn't cut it
18/07/2003 20:36 - (SA)
Willemien Brüer
Cape Town - Researchers at the Medical Research Council have established that circumcision is not, as previously thought, a way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids among heterosexual men.
Some previous studies have indicated that circumcision could prevent the spread of the virus.
Dr Nandi Siegfried says: "It's not true, because men who have been circumcised can get HIV/Aids.
She formed part of a group who published an article about the subject in the highly-respected Cochrane Library database. Among her co-workers were associates of Cape Town, Oxford, Bristol, Liverpool and the British Medical Research Council.
Siegfried says studies now being undertaken have indicated that circumcision could prevent the spread of the disease to some degree, but until the research has been completed, "it may be irresponsible to say circumcision will be a fool-proof method".
The researchers have completed a review of 35 case studies using research methods developed by the international Cochrane collaboration database. It differs from previous reviews in that case studies from all over the world have been incorporated.
Siegfried is of the opinion that previous research was not always of a high standard, because some didn't make use of control groups.
A study is being undertaken among 1 750 Gauteng men who will be circumcised and a similar control group who will not be circumcised. The men will be tested at 3, 12 and 21 months for HIV/Aids and results will be compared afterwards.
Similar studies are now being done in Kenya and Uganda.
http ... news24.com/News24/South [...] 29,00.html
Féminisation du sida : on a oublié les adolescentes mariées !
Une recherche menée dans le cadre du Population Council attire l?attention sur un groupe beaucoup plus menacé que tous les autres par l?infection à vih mais qui n?a pourtant pas fait l?objet, jusque-là, d?une attention particulière.
Nul ne peut plus l?ignorer (voir notamment la Lettre n92) : non seulement les femmes et les filles représentent près de la moitié de la quarantaine de millions d?adultes (15/24 ans) infectés par le vih, mais elles sont 60% en Afrique subsaharienne -l?épicentre de la pandémie- et même 76% des nouvelles infections chez les 15/24 ans.
C?est dans cette dernière catégorie, évidemment déterminante pour l?avenir, que Judith Bruce (Population Council) et Shelley Clark (université de Chicago) se sont particulièrement intéressées aux adolescentes mariées, dans le cadre d?une consultation technique organisée par l?OMS, l?UNFPA et le Population Council. Or, qu?ont-elles constaté ? En résumé, - que dans les pays en développement (Chine exceptée mais particulièrement en Afrique subsaharienne), la prévalence du vih est deux à huit fois supérieure à ce qu?elle est chez les garçons du même âge; - que la majorité des filles de 15/24 ans sexuellement actives y sont mariées ; - que ces adolescentes mariées y sont beaucoup plus infectées par le vih que leurs pairs célibataires et sexuellement actives; - qu?en dépit de cette situation, les adolescentes mariées ont été plus que marginalisées dans les politiques de lutte contre le sida, qu?il s?agisse de celles orientées vers les adolescents ou de celles qui visent les femmes adultes mariées.
http ... equipop.org/index.php?act=6&art=481
