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[[Image:Rakai_Site.jpg|right|thumb|Rakai Project Site]]
[[Image:Gray and Wawer.jpg|right|thumb|[[Ronald Gray ]] & [[Maria Wawer ]] (married) head the project.]]
The [[Rakai Health Sciences Program]] (RHSP) is a program that began in 1987 in UguandaUganda, Africa , to investigate the then-mysterious [[HIV]].<ref name="rakai-history">{{REFweb
|last=Rakai Project
|first=
|yeardate=
|title=History of the Rakai Health Sciences Program
|url=http://www.jhsph.edu/rakai/about/index.html
|last=Rakai Project
|first=
|yeardate=
|title=Our People at Johns Hopkins University
|url=http://www.jhsph.edu/rakai/our_people/jhu.html
|last=JohnsHopkinsSPH
|first=
|yeardate=2012-01-10
|title=Rakai Project
|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mXFdXJaG8k
|accessdate=
}}</ref> The RHSP is funded by the [[Johns Hopkins]] Bloomberg School for Public Health]], the Uguanda Uganda Virus Research Institute, the [[National Institutes of Health]], and the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]].<ref>{{REFweb
|last=Rakai Project
|first=
|yeardate=
|title=Rakai Health Sciences Program
|url=http://www.jhsph.edu/rakai/
== History of the RHSP ==
The [[Rakai Project]] was created in 1987 by a group of scientists from {{UNI|Makerere University |Mak}} in Kampala, Uganda , who decided to investigate [[HIV ]] infection in the Rakai district by initiating a small community cohort study. The original senior Principal Investigators of the [[Rakai Project]] were Nelson Sewankambo, David Serwadda, and [[Maria Wawer]].<ref name="rakai-history"/> The [[Rakai Project]] has since changed its name to the [[Rakai Health Services Program]], and has a current staff of just under 400 principal investigators, multidisciplinary professionals, and support staff.<ref name="rakai-history"/>
== Promoting circumcision as an HIV prevention method ==
The RHSP promotes mass circumcision as a means to prevent the spread of [[HIV]]. A Youtube video uploaded by the [[Johns Hopkins|Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health]] highlights the RHSP's mass circumcision program.<ref name="rakai-jhsph"/>
{{Citation
|Title=Rakai Project Doctor Promotes Circumcision
|Text=It's been hard to change policy because it's a whole new paradigm. We've never used surgery to prevent an infectious disease. Policy makers had to take some time to really wrap their minds around it.
|Author=[[Ronald Gray]]
|Source=Rakai Project
|ref=<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mXFdXJaG8k#t=07m29s JohnsHopkinsSPH. (2010). ''Rakai Project.'' YouTube.]</ref>
|last=JohnsHopkinsSPH
|first=
|yeardate=2012-01-10
|title=Rakai Project
|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mXFdXJaG8k#t=08m37s
|last=smugamba
|first=
|yeardate=2006-10-10
|title=Rakai male circumcision video by Stephen Mugamba feat Jemima Sanyu.mpg
|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rtEdNl322Q
|accessdate=
}}</ref>
<br><br>
<youtube>0rtEdNl322Q</youtube>
<br>
{{Citation
|Title=Chorus Lyrics
|Source=
}}
==Circumcision does not prevent HIV infection==
=== Population-based studies ===
{{Population-based studies}}
===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:
<blockquote>
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.<ref name="garenne2022A">{{REFjournal
|last=Garenne
|first=Michel
|init=M
|author-link=Michel Garenne
|title=Changing relationships between HIV prevalence and circumcision in Lesotho
|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35373731/
|date=2022-04-04
|journal=J Biosoc Sci
|volume=online ahead of print
|pages=1-16
|DOI=10.1017/S0021932022000153
|pubmedID=35373731
|accessdate=2022-11-05
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
In his second report, Garenne (2022) presented information from six Sub-Saharan African nations (Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe). He reported:
<blockquote>
"Results matched earlier observations made in South Africa that [[circumcised]] and [[intact]] men had similar levels of HIV infection."<ref name="garenne2022B">{{REFjournal
|last=Garenne
|first=Michael
|init=M
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Age-incidence and prevalence of HIV among intact and circumcised men: an analysis of PHIA surveys in Southern Africa
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Biosoc Sci
|location=
|date=2022-10-26
|season=
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|page=
|pages=1-13
|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-biosocial-science/article/abs/ageincidence-and-prevalence-of-hiv-among-intact-and-circumcised-men-an-analysis-of-phia-surveys-in-southern-africa/CAA7E7BD5A9844F41C6B7CC3573B9E50
|archived=
|quote=
|pubmedID=36286328
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1017/S0021932022000414
|accessdate=2022-11-05
}}</ref></blockquote>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Circumcision and HIV]]
* [[Foreskin]]
* [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin]]
* [[Johns Hopkins University]]
{{LINKS}}
* [http://www.jhsph.edu/rakai/ Rakai Health Sciences Program] home page at the [[Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health.* [http://www.jhu.edu/ Johns Hopkins University] home page at the John Hopkins University website].
{{REF}}
[[Category:ProgramsProgram]]
[[Category:Circumcision in Africa]]