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I know that this blog has discussed male circumcision and HIV prevention before. But now that the World Health Organization has endorsed the use of male circumcision to reduce risk of HIV transmission, the issue has really gone global. News items are everywhere. And Americans can no longer think it is something that just Africans, living in high HIV prevalence countries, have to contend with. No, the debate has arrived, like many a new immigrant to these shores, in New York. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in New York City is planning a promotion campaign for male circumcision among populations deemed to be at risk for acquiring HIV. The Department has started asking some community groups and gay rights organizations to discuss circumcision with their members. Health and...

This blog has dealt with ethical questions about male circumcision and HIV before, but somehow the assumption crept in that this is a distinctively African controversy. Maybe it was because of the high HIV prevalence in that part of the world. Maybe its was because of the longstanding interest -- especially among anthropologists -- with circumcision rituals in Africa. Let us make a confession here: the author of this post has co-authored an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics called Male Circumcision and HIV Infection: Ethical, Medical and Public Health Tradeoffs in Low-Income Countries. And it too is guilty of identifying the issue a bit too much with sub-Saharan Africa. Whatever way this came about, the ethical questions concerning the promotion of male circumcision to lower risk...