More In This Article The male foreskin—an unassuming flap of
skin eagerly discarded in some cultures—has taken center stage
in recent debates over HIV prevention. Although researchers now
agree that its removal is a proved method to reduce HIV spread
in heterosexual men, the picture for homosexual men remains a
bit foggy. In the late 1980s observations of heterosexual men in
Africa indicated that those who had been circumcised might be at
less risk of contracting HIV than men who left their foreskins
intact. To definitely test the hypothesis, researchers initiated
clinical trials in at-risk populations with low rates of
circumcision. Two studies focused on young urban men (ages 18 to
24) in Kenya and South Africa, whereas a third concentrated on a
larger cross-section of rural men (ages 15 to 49) in Uganda.
Over 11,000 men volunteered for the trials with one group
receiving circumcision on enrollment and a control group
delaying surgery until the end of the study. By tracking newly
acquired infections in both