PEPFAR is history: Difference between revisions

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==~~Position of Doctors Opposing Circumcision~~==

==Recent developments==

[[George C. Denniston]], M. D., M. P. H., the president of [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]], in a letter to Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, M.D., M. P. H., (2020), the head of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has called on PEPFAR to suspend the provision of male [[circumcision]] because it is ineffective and may increase the reception of HIV infection due to the loss of [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| immunological protections]] of the [[foreskin]], and to focus on the provision of anti-retroviral therapy and condoms.<ref name="denniston2020">{{REFdocument

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|accessdate=2020-09-04

}}</ref>

The VMMC Experience Project published an 18-page article on 9 September 2020, that is highly critical of PEPFAR's male circumcision program. In brief, it charges:

Campaigns to circumcise millions of boys and men to reduce HIV transmission are

being conducted throughout eastern and southern Africa, recommended by the

World Health Organization and implemented by the United States government and

Western NGOs. In the United States, proposals to mass-circumcise African and

African American men are longstanding, and have historically relied on racist beliefs

and stereotypes. The present campaigns were started in haste, without adequate

contextual research, and the manner in which they have been carried out implies

troubling assumptions about culture, health, and sexuality in Africa, as well as a failure

to properly consider the economic determinants of HIV prevalence. This critical

appraisal examines the history and politics of these circumcision campaigns while

highlighting the relevance of race and colonialism. It argues that the “circumcision

solution” to African HIV epidemics has more to do with cultural imperialism than with

sound health policy, and concludes that African communities need a means of robust

representation within the regime.

</blockquote>

== CircWatch ==

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 }}
-==Position of Doctors Opposing Circumcision==
+==Recent developments==
 [[George C. Denniston]], M. D., M. P. H., the president of [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]], in a letter to Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, M.D., M. P. H., (2020), the head of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)  has called on PEPFAR to suspend the provision of male [[circumcision]] because it is ineffective and may increase the reception of HIV infection due to the loss of [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| immunological protections]] of the [[foreskin]], and to focus on the provision of anti-retroviral therapy and condoms.<ref name="denniston2020">{{REFdocument
@@ Line 293: / Line 293: @@
   |accessdate=2020-09-04
 }}</ref>
+The VMMC Experience Project published an 18-page article on 9 September 2020, that is highly critical of PEPFAR's male circumcision program. In brief, it charges:
+<blockquote>
+Campaigns to circumcise millions of boys and men to reduce HIV transmission are
+being conducted throughout eastern and southern Africa, recommended by the
+World Health Organization and implemented by the United States government and
+Western NGOs. In the United States, proposals to mass-circumcise African and
+African American men are longstanding, and have historically relied on racist beliefs
+and stereotypes. The present campaigns were started in haste, without adequate
+contextual research, and the manner in which they have been carried out implies
+troubling assumptions about culture, health, and sexuality in Africa, as well as a failure
+to properly consider the economic determinants of HIV prevalence. This critical
+appraisal examines the history and politics of these circumcision campaigns while
+highlighting the relevance of race and colonialism. It argues that the “circumcision
+solution” to African HIV epidemics has more to do with cultural imperialism than with
+sound health policy, and concludes that African communities need a means of robust
+representation within the regime.
+</blockquote>
 == CircWatch ==