Ambassador Mark Dybul's Statement on Findings of Adult Medical Male Circumcision Trials

U.S. GOVERNMENT TRIALS IN KENYA AND UGANDA STOPPED EARLY

Washington, DC –The following is a statement from Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator:

"We are encouraged by the news today that safe medical circumcision of adult males can reduce the risk of HIV transmission. In anticipation of the potential role of safe male circumcision, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been a member of an international working group, in addition to funding formative and preparatory work, including assessments of clinical and community preparedness, in partnership with several nations.

PEPFAR is awaiting normative guidance from international organizations or other normative bodies, and thereafter will support implementation of safe medical male circumcision for HIV/AIDS prevention based on requests from host governments and in keeping with their national policies and guidelines. It is important that male circumcision be safely provided and that it be integrated into, and not substituted for, a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention program. Given the possible misperception that circumcision eliminates HIV transmission risk, prevention efforts must reinforce the ABC approach – abstain, be faithful and correct and consistent use of condoms, and must be linked to voluntary counseling and testing and screening and treatment of sexually transmitted infections."

For more information on the Kenyan and Ugandan trials of adult male circumcision, please see the NIAID Questions and Answers document at: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/QA/AMC12_QA.htm.

Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) press statement is available on the WHO website: www.who.int/hiv.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is a $15 billion, five-year initiative to turn the tide against global HIV/AIDS – the largest global health initiative directed at a single disease that any nation has ever undertaken. The United States is now committing more to the global HIV/AIDS response than all the world’s other donor nations combined. For more information about PEPFAR please visit http://www.pepfar.gov.

Released on December 13, 2006