- Male circumcision is a cost-effective means to prevent the spread of HIV, according to a new United Nations-backed report, which found that one HIV infection could be averted for every five to 15 procedures performed on heterosexual men.
Using a 10-year time horizon, the study put the cost of averting one HIV infection in high HIV prevalence areas between $150 and $900.
Published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, it is based on findings in meetings convened by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA).
First-line treatment costs typically exceed $7,000 over a lifetime, and double that if second-line therapies are used, the report said.
With each circumcision procedure costing between $30 and $60, with neonatal circumcision costing only one-third that amount, “circumcising sexually active males of any age is likely to be cost saving,” it stressed.
However, the new publication pointed out that male circumcision may have only a minimal impact on curbing HIV transmission among men who have sex with men.
Additionally, despite studies confirming that circumcision could decrease female-to-male HIV transmission by 60 percent, the procedure does not directly protect women from the virus, the report said.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español