To accommodate waves of immigrants eager to assimilate in the Jewish state, many Israeli doctors are highly experienced at circumcising adult males. Now some are offering that expertise to nations in Africa, where research has shown the procedure can cut the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission by up to 60 percent.
"Israel is the only country with such expertise in mass adult-male circumcision, and it can respond to a very important humanitarian challenge," said Inon Schenker, an AIDS prevention specialist and director of Operation Abraham. Launched last year, the project sends Israeli surgeons to teach proper circumcision measures in Africa.
Jewish law, derived from the Biblical story of Abraham, requires male circumcision. Although the operation is generally performed on newborns, many Jewish immigrants from Russia were not circumcised as babies and seek out the procedure upon settling in Israel. Various estimates suggest that more than 80,000 adult male immigrants have been circumcised in Israel.
With the support of the Jerusalem-based Hadassah Medical Organization, the Jerusalem AIDS Project sent three groups of surgeons to teach adult circumcision in Swaziland, where HIV/AIDS prevalence stands at 26 percent.
On two trips last year and again in February, the Israelis trained 10 doctors in adult male circumcision and two others in newborn circumcision. An Arab-Israeli doctor with experience in Muslim ritual circumcision also took part.
Acceptance of the procedure is growing in Swaziland, where billboards advocate it along with condom use and abstention from casual sex. "Before, people were scared, but now they see the benefits and they are more willing to do it," said Prudence Mkhatshwa, chief nurse in male circumcision at the Family Life Association of Swaziland, which partnered with the Israelis.
07/08/08
Israeli Expertise in Ritual Helps Africa Combat AIDS; Doctors Trained in Adult Male Circumcisions
Source: Chicago Tribune:: Joel Greenberg; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention