Constant Karma
Constant Karma 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 Constant Karma:
drh. Constant Karma
- Institutional affiliation(s): Secretary of Papua Provincial AIDS Commission
- Commissioner of Bank Papua
- Academic degrees: Veterinary medicine
- City and country of primary residence: Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia
Constant Karma served in 2001-2005 as Deputy Governor of Irian Jaya Province and he began HIV-related activities with the Papua Provincial AIDS Commission (KPA) and in communities. After 2005, he was appointed by Papua Governor as Chief and Secretary of KPA of Papua Province up to the present time. From various experiences in the Government, he has supported HIV & AIDS prevention and prevention programs in Papua, such as the implementation of 100% Condom Usage Campaign to High Risk Groups by involving Persipura Jayapura Persipura Football Players Indonesia. Beginning in 2008, he presented about HIV and AIDS at meetings in Jayapura and advocated for a HIV prevention strategy that included male circumcision to prevent HIV transmission in Papua.
He works with various groups of society, namely religious institutions, government, NGO, and schools. In 2012, he sought engagement of other parties, especially donor support. He has been engaged with CHAI and a team of researchers from Rwanda on studies of device based male circumcision, acceptability and costs to help inform approaches to implementation and to reach the geographically remote population of Papua.[2]
Constant Karma is a named author of a journal article in which supports the large scale promotion of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) to protect against HIV infection.[3] Karma evidently has made up his mind in favor of VMMC.
Population-based studies
September 2021 saw the publication of two huge population studies on the relationship of circumcision and HIV infection:
- 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]
- 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
References
- ↑ (May 2018).
WHO to develop new guidelines on male circumcision
. Retrieved 26 March 2020. - ↑ Biographies of Guideline Development Group (GDG) members for WHO guidance , WHO. (September 2018). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ↑ Ansari MR, Lazardi E, Wignall FS, Karma C, Semule SA, Tarmizi SN, Magnani R. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision to Prevent HIV in Tanah Papua, Indonesia: Field Trial to Assess Acceptability and Feasibility. Curr HIV Res. 23 November 2017; 15(5): 361-71. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.