Hope Rising

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Hope Rising is a benefit concert put on by the Stephen Lewis Foundation,[1] whose founder, Stephen H. Lewis, is an avid promoter of circumcision as HIV prevention. The first Hope Rising concert was put on in May 2011 at Toronto's Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.[2] Celebrities who have participated in the concert include Alicia Keys, K'naan, Angélique Kidjo, Rufus Wainwright and Holly Cole.[3] Artists who appeared in the 2012 concert in Toronto, November 7th, 2012 included Annie Lennox, Angélique Kidjo and Sarah McLachlan.[4]

Population-based studies

September 2021 saw the publication of two huge population studies on the relationship of circumcision and HIV infection:

  1. Mayan et al. (2021) carried out a massive empirical study of the male population of the province of Ontario, Canada (569,950 males), of whom 203,588 (35.7%) were circumcised between 1991 and 2017. The study concluded that circumcision status is not related to risk of HIV infection.[5]
  2. Morten Frisch & Jacob Simonsen (2021) carried out a large scale empirical population study in Denmark of 855,654 males regarding the alleged value of male circumcision in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in men. They found that circumcised men have a higher rate of STI and HIV infection overall than intact men.[6]

No association between lack of circumcision and risk of HIV infection was found by either study. There now is credible evidence that the massive, expensive African circumcision programs have not been effective in preventing HIV infection.

Two African surveys

The previously reported studies were from developed Western nations. Now we have information from Sub_Saharan Africa.

French scientist Michel Garenne, Ph.D. has published two reports in 2022 comparing the incidence of HIV infection in circumcised and intact men.

In his first report, Garenne presented the findings from a study in Lesotho, the enclave in South Africa. He reported:

In couple studies, the effect of circumcision and VMMC on HIV was not significant, with similar transmission from female to male and male to female. The study questions the amount of effort and money spent on VMMC in Lesotho.[7]

In his second report, Garenne (2022) presented information from six Sub-Saharan African nations (Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe). He reported:

"Results matched earlier observations made in South Africa that circumcised and intact men had similar levels of HIV infection."[8]

See also

External links

References

  1. REFweb About Hope Rising!, The Stephen Lewis Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
    Quote: Hope Rising! is a benefit concert for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
  2. REFweb About Hope Rising!, The Stephen Lewis Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
    Quote: In May 2011, the Stephen Lewis Foundation hosted the first ever Hope Rising concert at Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.
  3. REFweb About Hope Rising!, The Stephen Lewis Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
    Quote: International recording artists Alicia Keys, K’naan, Angélique Kidjo, Rufus Wainwright and Holly Cole headlined this spectacular event, and Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi, actress Gloria Reuben and broadcaster Marci Ien hosted the intimate evening. The evening also featured a special performance by cast members of Da Kink in my Hair: Ngozi Paul, d’bi Young and Ordena Stephens-Thompson.
  4. REFweb About Hope Rising!, The Stephen Lewis Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
    Quote: World-renowned artists and AIDS activists Annie Lennox, Angélique Kidjo & Sarah McLachlan headline this spectacular event at Roy Thomson Hall.
  5. REFjournal Mayan M, Hamilton RJ, Juurlink DN, Austin PC, Jarvi KA. Circumcision and Risk of HIV Among Males From Ontario, Canada. J Urol. 23 September 2021; PMID. DOI. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
    Quote: We found that circumcision was not independently associated with the risk of acquiring HIV among men from Ontario, Canada.
  6. REFjournal Frisch M, Simonsen J. Non-therapeutic male circumcision in infancy or childhood and risk of human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted infections: national cohort study in Denmark. Eur J Epidemiol. 26 September 2021; 37: 251–9. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  7. REFjournal Garenne M. Changing relationships between HIV prevalence and circumcision in Lesotho. J Biosoc Sci. 4 April 2022; online ahead of print: 1-16. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  8. REFjournal Garenne M. Age-incidence and prevalence of HIV among intact and circumcised men: an analysis of PHIA surveys in Southern Africa. J Biosoc Sci. 26 October 2022; : 1-13. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 1 November 2022.