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The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIAID, FIC, NIHCD, NCI) funded the three major RCTs being used by the [[WHO]] to endorse circumcision as [[HIV ]] prevention<ref name='DOC%252525252525252525252525252525202008'>{{REFweb

}}</ref>. They continue to fund further "research" and promotion of circumcision as [[HIV ]] prevention in Africa.

The NIH funded the three major RCTs being used by the WHO to endorse circumcision as [[HIV ]] prevention: One in Orange Farm, South Africa under the supervision of French circumcision proponent [[Bertran Auvert]]<ref>{{REFjournal

|Text=This is in response to your email dated June 30, 2010, to Dr. Francis S. Collins, {{MD}}, {{PhD}}, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), concerning clinical trial #NCT01115335l, “Feasibility, Acceptability, and Safety of Neonatal Male Circumcision in Lusaka, Zambia,” and the premise upon which it was designed. That is, that circumcision prevents the transmission of [[HIV ]] infection. Your email has been forwarded to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the NIH component with primary responsibility for research on [[HIV]]/AIDS.

The World Health Organization/Joint United Nations Program on [[HIV]]/AIDS has concluded that the research evidence that male circumcision is efficacious in reducing sexual transmission of [[HIV ]] from women to men is compelling, and that it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. (http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2007/mc_recommendations_en.pdf) Their report and additional information is available on male circumcision for [[HIV ]] prevention at www.malecircumcision.org. This Web site/clearinghouse is a service of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on [[HIV]]/AIDS (UNAIDS), the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), and Family Health International (FHI).

We can assure you that safeguards are in place for all NIH-supported research involving people. For instance, local committees--called Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and Research Ethics Committees (RECs)--are required to review research to assure that the rights and welfare of study participants are protected. This review includes the equitable selection of participants, maintenance of privacy and confidentiality, minimizing coercion or undue influence, and ensuring appropriate safeguards in vulnerable participants. Committee members have knowledge of the local research context and cultural considerations. In addition, research is often conducted in adult populations to obtain safety data prior to acquiring data in vulnerable population such as children. In the case of Zambia, the Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH) oversees research. It is the MOH’‘s role to consider the ethical and public health implications of research studies within their purview. As such, the Zambian MOH is responsible for approving and implementing the WHO recommendations regarding male circumcision for [[HIV ]] prevention in that country and have made the decision to do so. Since the Zambian Ministry of Health and the local IRB/REC have reviewed and approved the research study in question, the local ethical and public health issues, in their opinion, have been addressed.

We appreciate your concerns and hope that this information helps clarify the rationale for circumcision as an important component of [[HIV ]] prevention.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is presently funding a five-year (2009-2013), $465,108 'study' entitled "[[HIV ]] PREVALENCE, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD CIRCUMCISION AMONG COLOMBIA" (sic) with the stated aim of investigating "individual, social, and structural influences on [[HIV ]] risk and serostatus among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Bogota, Colombia...Moreover, it will evaluate the protection against [[HIV ]] afforded by circumcision among MSM in Colombia"<ref>{{REFweb

|Text=On November 1, 2002, NICHD awarded contract HHSN275-03-3345 (the Contract), totaling $164.7 million, to Westat, Inc. (Westat), in Rockville, Maryland. The Contract required Westat to establish an international pediatric and perinatal [[HIV ]] studies network-coordinating center to maintain, coordinate, and manage a network of clinical centers. These clinical centers, under subcontracts with Westat, conducted research on the treatment, prevention, diagnosis, epidemiology, and natural history of [[HIV ]] infection and disease in pediatric, adolescent, and maternal patient populations.

From a National [[HIV ]] Vaccine Awareness Day statement dated 18 May 2011 by Anthony S. Fauci, {{MD}}, Director of NIAID (emphasis added):<ref>{{REFweb

|Text=To speed the pace at which promising [[HIV ]] vaccine candidates become viable for evaluation in large clinical trials, NIAID is exploring the use of innovative or adaptive clinical trial designs that let scientists quickly modify ongoing trials in response to data acquired during the study. Such flexibility in trial design will allow the research community to maximize efficiencies in studying vaccine candidates.

No matter how effective a preventive [[HIV ]] vaccine is, however, we will need to evaluate and administer it in combination with other biomedical and behavioral [[HIV ]] prevention tools. No single [[HIV ]] prevention strategy will control and ultimately end the [[HIV]]/AIDS pandemic. That is why it is important for NIAID to continue supporting promising research on vaginal and rectal microbicides, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and expanded [[HIV ]] testing with linkage to care. That is also why public health workers will continue to advocate and implement scientifically proven [[HIV ]] prevention strategies such as condom use, medically supervised adult <strong>male circumcision</strong>, harm-reduction strategies for injection drug users and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of [[HIV]].