Harsha Thirumurthy

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Harsha Thirumurthy is member of the 2018 Guideline Development Group (GDG) of the WHO. The GDG's task is to develop updated recommendations on safe male circumcision for HIV prevention and related service delivery for adolescent boys and men in generalized HIV epidemics.[1]

Contents

Biography

The WHO published the following biography of Harsha Thirumurthy:

Thirumurthy, Harsha

  • Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States [current]
  • Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, United States [until August 2017]
  • BA[a 1], M.A.[a 2], MPhil, Ph.D.[a 3] (economics)
  • Philadelphia, PA, United States

Dr. Harsha Thirumurthy is Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also worked at The World Bank.

Dr. Thirumurthy is an economist whose research lies at the intersection of economics and public health. His prior work includes several studies of the causal effects of large-scale health initiatives on population health and economic outcomes in low-income countries. He also has extensive experience leading randomized controlled trials of financial incentive interventions and mobile technology-based approaches to achieve changes in health behaviors related to HIV prevention and treatment. This work includes several randomized trials of economic interventions to promote uptake of medical male circumcision in Kenya and Zambia. His recent research has also explored the HIV prevention potential of HIV self-testing. He has authored over 75 peer-reviewed articles in economics and health journals. Dr. Thirumurthy has engaged with government and donor organizations on various aspects of health policy and served on review panels at the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies.[2]

PubMed lists 100 articles by Dr. Thirumurthy. The vast majority address various aspects of HIV in Africa. There is a particularly egregious article in which he recommends early infant circumcision by midwives.[3] Infant circumcision is a violation of numerous human rights of the child. Dr. Thirumurthy evidently has no respect for international human rights law.

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.[4]
  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.[5]

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.

See also

Abbreviations

  1. ↑   Bachelor of Arts, Wikipedia. Retrieved 13 October 2021. (BA or AB; from the Latin baccalaureus artium or artium baccalaureus.)
  2. ↑   Master of Arts, Wikipedia. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  3. ↑   Doctor of Philosophy, Wikipedia. Retrieved 16 June 2021. (Also abbreviated as D.Phil.)

References

  1. ↑   (May 2018). WHO to develop new guidelines on male circumcision. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. ↑   Biographies of Guideline Development Group (GDG) members for WHO guidance  , WHO. (September 2018). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. ↑   Mangenah C, Mayhu W, Hatzold K, Biddle AK, Ncube G, Megrurundi O, Tiklay I, Cowan FM, Thirumurthy H, et al. Comparative Cost of Early Infant Male Circumcision by Nurse-Midwives and Doctors in Zimbabwe. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2016; 4 (Suppl 1): S68-S75. PMID. PMC. DOI. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  4. ↑   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.
  5. ↑   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.
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