CDC Must Stop Advocating Circumcision

Risk is 8 times higher than for whites

(AP) - Health officials estimate that 1 in 22 black Americans will be diagnosed with the AIDS virus in their lifetime—more than twice the risk for Hispanics and eight times that of whites. The CDC report released yesterday says the lifetime risk is 1 in 52 for Hispanics and 1 in 170 for whites. Asian-Americans had the lowest lifetime risk, at about 1 in 222. More»

Lowered risk of minor cuts may protect against HIV/AIDS

(NEWSER) - Circumcised men's penises sustain fewer cuts, abrasions, and other minor sex-related injuries during intercourse, a new study finds—which could explain why circumcised men are less likely to get HIV during unprotected sex than uncircumcised men. Researchers analyzed data from an HIV study in Africa that followed 2,800 men, noting their penile status and STD history. They found that circumcised men were 39% less likely to report a penile injury, controlling for other factors, reports Reuters . More»

African, Middle Eastern immigrants arrested after mutilations abroad

(NEWSER) - Scandinavian countries are hitting perpetrators of genital mutilation with heavy fines and prison sentences, even when the act is committed in other countries, Global Post reports. African and Middle Eastern immigrants who take their daughters abroad for genital mutilations—which are considered normal and even necessary in some cultures—are coming home to handcuffs in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. More»

Limbaugh makes leap from CDC advisory to mandatory circumcision

(NEWSER) - Rush Limbaugh says President Obama is out to get his foreskin. Seriously. Or at least semi-seriously. It all started when the the Centers for Disease Control reported that it's thinking of issuing an advisory touting the health beneifits of male circumcision in infancy, writes Gabriel Winant for Salon. Conservative blogger Ed Morrissey leaped from there to the idea that the government would “create pressure on doctors to perform" circumcisions. And Limbaugh took it the next step: "It's President Obama who wants to mandate circumcision." More»

Figures raise concerns after positive trends

(NEWSER) - After declining in 1991-2005, the US teen birth rate climbed in 2006 and 2007, HealthDay News reports. Crunching numbers from 2002-07, the Centers for Disease Control found a number of trends had flatlined or worsened after a period of improvement.

• 2004 saw 745,000 pregnancies among females under 20, including 16,000 among girls 10 to 14 years old.
• One-third of adolescents had no birth-control education before age 18.