Helen A. Weiss

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Helen A. Weiss, M.S.[a 1], DPhil is a statistical epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Helen's research focuses on HIV epidemiology in developing countries. She works in the Tropical Epidemiology Group.[1]

Helen Weiss.jpg
Helen A. Weiss
Colleagues & Benefactors:
Daniel T. Halperin
Inon Schenker

She co-authored a paper with Daniel T. Halperin and Inon Schenker.[2]

Weiss 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.[3]

Contents

Biography

The WHO published the following biography of Helen A. Weiss:

Weiss, Helen A

  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • Ph.D.[a 2]
  • London, United Kingdom

Professor Helen Weiss is Director of the MRC Tropical Epidemiology Group at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. A statistical epidemiologist by training, her research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of HIV and mental health disorders in low and middle-income countries. She has a particular interest in adolescent health research and is collaborating on projects evaluating strategies to improve HIV-related outcomes among adolescents living with HIV. She is currently leads a study to pilot an intervention to improve menstrual hygiene management in Uganda.

Professor Weiss first worked on male circumcision research in 1999, leading the systematic review that first provided clear evidence that male circumcision was associated with a lower risk of HIV infection among heterosexual men in sub-Saharan Africa. She also led subsequent systematic reviews on different aspects of male circumcision including on safety of neonatal circumcision, and the effect of male circumcision on infections among women.

Professor Weiss has co-authored more than 270 peer-reviewed publications and is a member of the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel and the MRC Infections and Immunity Board, as well as the initial WHO Technical Advisory Group on Safe Male Circumcision.[4]

Weiss has been a co-author of numerous papers to promote male circumcision in Africa (VMMC) in the mistaken belief that it prevents HIV infection. She obviously is biased in favor of circumcision.[5]

Circumcision does not prevent HIV infection

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.[6]
  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.[7]

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.[8]

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."[9]

See also

Abbreviations

  1. ↑   Master of Science, Wikipedia. Retrieved 13 October 2021. (Latin: magisterii scientiae; also abbreviated MS, MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.)
  2. ↑   Doctor of Philosophy, Wikipedia. Retrieved 16 June 2021. (Also abbreviated as D.Phil.)

References

  1. ↑   Helen Weiss MSc DPhil Head of IDE and Reader in Epidemiology and International Health. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  2. ↑   Weiss H, Larke N, Halperin DT, Schenker I. Complications of circumcision in male neonates, infants and children: a systematic review. BMC Urol. 16 February 2010; 10: 2. PMID. PMC. DOI. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ↑   (May 2018). WHO to develop new guidelines on male circumcision. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  4. ↑   Biographies of Guideline Development Group (GDG) members for WHO guidance  , WHO. (September 2018). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. ↑   Weiss HA, Quigley MA, Hayes RJ. Male circumcision and risk of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. AIDS. 20 October 2000; 14(15): 2361-70. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  6. ↑   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.
  7. ↑   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.
  8. ↑   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 9 November 2022.
  9. ↑   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 9 November 2022.
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