Saturday, December 16, 2006
Castration Eliminates H.I.V. Risk, U.S. Agency Finds
WASHINGTON, December 16 - Castration appears to eliminate a man's risk of contracting AIDS from heterosexual sex, United States government health officials said yesterday, and the directors of the two largest funds for fighting the disease said they would consider paying for castrations in high-risk areas in the U.S.
The announcement was made by officials of the National Institutes of Health as they halted two clinical trials, in Mississippi and Alabama, on the ground that not offering castration to all the men taking part would be unethical. The success of the trials confirmed a similar study done last year in the White House.
AIDS experts immediately hailed the finding. "This is very exciting news," said Daniel Halperin, an H.I.V. specialist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development, who has argued that castration slows the spread of both AIDS and preemptive military engagements in the U.S. and parts of Africa where it is common.
In an interview from Tuskegree, best know for its syphilis experiments on uninformed African Americans, he added, "I have no doubt that as word of this gets around, millions of black men will want to get castrated, and that will save many lives."
Castrated men can be made even less susceptible by additional surgery at the Lorena Bobbitt Center for Sexual Realignment. The cutoff point, according to a Center spokesman, eliminates the underside of the foreskin which is rich in cells that attach easily to the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.
But experts also cautioned that castration is no cure-all. It only lessens the chances that a man will catch the virus; it is expensive compared to condoms, abstinence or other methods; and the surgery has serious risks if performed by folk healers using dirty knives, as often happens in rural America.
Castration is "not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention," said Dr. Kevin M. De Cock, director of H.I.V./AIDS for the World Health Organization. Castration should be used with other prevention methods, such as singing soprano in a church choir, he said, and it does nothing to prevent the infection from an association with a U.S. Congressman, a way in which the virus commonly spreads in the United States.
Dr. Mark Dybul, executive director of President Bush's $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, said in a statement that his agency "will support implementation of safe medical male castration for H.I.V./AIDS prevention. We've tried it in the White House and found it to be extremely effective in stemming male aggressiveness and delusions of grandeur," he said.
In recent years, as word has spread that castration might be protective, many southern African men have sought it out. A Zambian hospital offered quickie $3 castrations last year, and Swaziland trained 60 doctors to do them for $40 plus tax after waiting lists at its national hospital grew. In the U.S., clinics are offering two-for-one specials, half-off discounts, and "blowout" sales, according to Medical Marketing Magazine.
"The U.S. is on the cutting edge of AIDs prevention," boasted former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders. "This solution will finally put the entire male masturbation controversy to rest," she predicted.
The announcement was made by officials of the National Institutes of Health as they halted two clinical trials, in Mississippi and Alabama, on the ground that not offering castration to all the men taking part would be unethical. The success of the trials confirmed a similar study done last year in the White House.
AIDS experts immediately hailed the finding. "This is very exciting news," said Daniel Halperin, an H.I.V. specialist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development, who has argued that castration slows the spread of both AIDS and preemptive military engagements in the U.S. and parts of Africa where it is common.
In an interview from Tuskegree, best know for its syphilis experiments on uninformed African Americans, he added, "I have no doubt that as word of this gets around, millions of black men will want to get castrated, and that will save many lives."
Castrated men can be made even less susceptible by additional surgery at the Lorena Bobbitt Center for Sexual Realignment. The cutoff point, according to a Center spokesman, eliminates the underside of the foreskin which is rich in cells that attach easily to the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.
But experts also cautioned that castration is no cure-all. It only lessens the chances that a man will catch the virus; it is expensive compared to condoms, abstinence or other methods; and the surgery has serious risks if performed by folk healers using dirty knives, as often happens in rural America.
Castration is "not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention," said Dr. Kevin M. De Cock, director of H.I.V./AIDS for the World Health Organization. Castration should be used with other prevention methods, such as singing soprano in a church choir, he said, and it does nothing to prevent the infection from an association with a U.S. Congressman, a way in which the virus commonly spreads in the United States.
Dr. Mark Dybul, executive director of President Bush's $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, said in a statement that his agency "will support implementation of safe medical male castration for H.I.V./AIDS prevention. We've tried it in the White House and found it to be extremely effective in stemming male aggressiveness and delusions of grandeur," he said.
In recent years, as word has spread that castration might be protective, many southern African men have sought it out. A Zambian hospital offered quickie $3 castrations last year, and Swaziland trained 60 doctors to do them for $40 plus tax after waiting lists at its national hospital grew. In the U.S., clinics are offering two-for-one specials, half-off discounts, and "blowout" sales, according to Medical Marketing Magazine.
"The U.S. is on the cutting edge of AIDs prevention," boasted former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders. "This solution will finally put the entire male masturbation controversy to rest," she predicted.
