WHAT: In December 2006, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced an early end to two clinical trials of adult male circumcision in Kenya and Uganda because an interim review of trial data showed that medically performed male circumcision significantly lowered a man’s risk of acquiring HIV through heterosexual intercourse.
Two papers in the February 24 issue of The Lancet provide detailed analyses of these NIAID-funded trials. In the trial of 2,784 HIV-negative men in Kisumu, Kenya, the investigators found the rate of HIV acquisition in circumcised men to be 53 percent lower than in uncircumcised men. Investigators in the trial of 4,996 HIV-negative men in Rakai, Uganda, report that HIV acquisition was reduced by 51 percent in circumcised men.
ARTICLES: "Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in Kisumu, Kenya: a randomised controlled trial," by R Bailey et al. The Lancet 369: 643-56 (2007). This trial was conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Manitoba and the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
"Male circumcision for HIV prevention in men in Rakai, Uganda: a randomised trial," by R Gray et al. The Lancet 369: 657-66 (2007). This trial was conducted by scientists from The Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, and Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
SPOKESPERSONS: Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, NIAID
Carolyn Williams, Ph.D., Chief, Epidemiology Branch, Division of AIDS, NIAID
CONTACT: To schedule interviews, contact Anne A. Oplinger in the NIAID News and Public Information Branch, (301) 402-1663, aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)--The Nation's Medical Research Agency--includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.
Journal
The Lancet