The New Zealand AIDS Foundation says it would be “unwise” to substitute condoms for circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy, in the wake of a new report that shows circumcised heterosexual African men have a lower incidence of HIV infection compared to their uncircumcised counterparts. “The studies referred to in the World Health Organisation article are of heterosexual men engaging in vaginal intercourse,” says Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director of the Foundation. The study analysed data from trials that showed that circumcised men have a significantly lower incidence of HIV infection, and calculated that if all African men were circumcised within the next ten years some 2 million new infections and 300,000 deaths could be prevented, reported the New Zealand Herald. Researchers believe the HIV virus may survive better in the warm moist environment under the foreskin. “There have been very few studies that have investigated this for homosexual men engaging in anal intercourse, but those that have suggest that circumcision is not a reliable protection against HIV,” said Le Mesurier. “A 2001 study in Australia, where researchers say the majority of the male population is circumcised, found no correlation between circumcision and HIV infection via anal sex.” “It would be extremely unwise for gay and bisexual men to consider circumcision as a substitute for condoms,” said Le Mesurier. In Africa, the main mode of transmission for HIV is between a man and a woman engaging in vaginal intercourse. HIV infects around 40 million people worldwide, and has already killed around 25 million people. Ref: GayNZ.com, NZ Herald (d)