The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is investing about $4 million into studying a medical device that could make adult male circumcision easier. Circumcision can reduce the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission, and experts are exploring ways to circumcise about 50 million men in high-prevalence African countries.
The ShangRing is a Chinese-developed plastic device consisting of two rings, one with a slightly smaller diameter than the other. With anesthesia, the rings trap the foreskin in between them while the foreskin is surgically removed without major bleeding or the need for stitches. The ShangRing is then worn for 10 days to allow the wound to heal.
The device also reduces the procedure's time from about 20 minutes to five, an important consideration for a continent with too few medical workers.
"The ShangRing could have a huge impact on reducing HIV transmission," said Marc Goldstein, a professor of reproductive medicine and urology at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center. With no financial ties to the device, Goldstein and colleagues tested the ShangRing in Kenya. In some 40 men tested there, 90 percent reported satisfaction with the procedure.
"Circumcision will likely avert far more deaths per dollar spent than other things we're spending HIV money on," said Philip Stevens of the International Policy Network, a London-based think tank. "The main problem I can foresee with this is actually persuading men to sign up for it."
02/15/10
AFRICA: Experts Explore Ways to Circumcise Men in Africa
Source: Associated Press:: Maria Cheng; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention