A study has proven that, health benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks of the surgery on baby boys, claiming it may prevent diseases such as HIV and has no negative effect on sexual satisfaction.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said circumcision can reduce risk of urine infects, penile cancer and sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, but stop short of recommending the procedure for all babies, saying the choice should be left up to parents.
In a study published by journal pediatrics, the AAP said health benefits of new born male circumcision “justify access to this procedure for families who choose it and added that circumcision does not have any effect on sensitivity of the penis neither on sexual pleasure.
The review also showed a lower risk of contracting HPV and herpes if men are circumcised, but not a lower rate of gonorrhea or Chlamydia.
Dr. Andrew Freeman, a pediatric Urologist at Cedarsinai medical centre in Los Angeles, who chaired the study, said “we’re saying if a family thinks it is in the best interest of the child, then the benefits are enough to help them do that.
The group also stressed it is imperative that those performing circumcision are adequately trained, that they use sterile techniques and offer effective pain-relief.
However, the anti-circumcision group Intact America has said most of the studies underlying the new guidelines are based on research done on adult men in Africa.
Georganne Chapin, the group’s executive director said: “the task force has failed to consider the large body of evidence from the developed world that shows no medical benefits for the practice, and has given short shrift, if not dismissed out of hand, the serious ethical problems inherent in doctors removing healthy body parts from children who cannot consent”.
In a related development, a doctor in Germany last week filed charges against David Goldberg, an Israeli rabbi living in Germany for performing circumcision, after a court in Cologne ruled it was illegal. However, a government ethics committee overruled the court’s decision.
In February 2010, a Jewish couple was fined for causing harm to their then infant son who was circumcised in 2008 by a mohel, a rabbi specializing in circumcision, from the UK.
