TY - JOUR
T1 - Cultural bias in the AAP's 2012 Technical Report and Policy Statement on male circumcision
AU - Frisch, Morten
AU - Aigrain, Yves
AU - Barauskas, Vidmantas
AU - Bjarnason, Ragnar
AU - Boddy, Su Anna
AU - Czauderna, Piotr
AU - De Gier, Robert P.E.
AU - De Jong, Tom P.V.M.
AU - Fasching, Günter
AU - Fetter, Willem
AU - Gahr, Manfred
AU - Graugaard, Christian
AU - Greisen, Gorm
AU - Gunnarsdottir, Anna
AU - Hartmann, Wolfram
AU - Havranek, Petr
AU - Hitchcock, Rowena
AU - Huddart, Simon
AU - Janson, Staffan
AU - Jaszczak, Poul
AU - Kupferschmid, Christoph
AU - Lahdes-Vasama, Tuija
AU - Lindahl, Harry
AU - MacDonald, Noni
AU - Markestad, Trond
AU - Märtson, Matis
AU - Nordhov, Solveig Marianne
AU - Pälve, Heikki
AU - Pētersons, Aigars
AU - Quinn, Feargal
AU - Qvist, Niels
AU - Rosmundsson, Thrainn
AU - Saxen, Harri
AU - Söder, Olle
AU - Stehr, Maximilian
AU - Von Loewenich, Volker C.H.
AU - Wallander, Johan
AU - Wijnen, Rene
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released its new Technical Report and Policy Statement on male circumcision, concluding that current evidence indicates that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks. The technical report is based on the scrutiny of a large number of complex scientific articles. Therefore, while striving for objectivity, the conclusions drawn by the 8 task force members reflect what these individual physicians perceived as trustworthy evidence. Seen from the outside, cultural bias reflecting the normality of nontherapeutic male circumcision in the United States seems obvious, and the report's conclusions are different from those reached by physicians in other parts of the Western world, including Europe, Canada, and Australia. In this commentary, a different view is presented by non-US-based physicians and representatives of general medical associations and societies for pediatrics, pediatric surgery, and pediatric urology in Northern Europe. To these authors, only 1 of the arguments put forward by the American Academy of Pediatrics has some theoretical relevance in relation to infant male circumcision; namely, the possible protection against urinary tract infections in infant boys, which can easily be treated with antibiotics without tissue loss. The other claimed health benefits, including protection against HIV/AIDS, genital herpes, genital warts, and penile cancer, are questionable, weak, and likely to have little public health relevance in a Western context, and they do not represent compelling reasons for surgery before boys are old enough to decide for themselves.
AB - The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released its new Technical Report and Policy Statement on male circumcision, concluding that current evidence indicates that the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks. The technical report is based on the scrutiny of a large number of complex scientific articles. Therefore, while striving for objectivity, the conclusions drawn by the 8 task force members reflect what these individual physicians perceived as trustworthy evidence. Seen from the outside, cultural bias reflecting the normality of nontherapeutic male circumcision in the United States seems obvious, and the report's conclusions are different from those reached by physicians in other parts of the Western world, including Europe, Canada, and Australia. In this commentary, a different view is presented by non-US-based physicians and representatives of general medical associations and societies for pediatrics, pediatric surgery, and pediatric urology in Northern Europe. To these authors, only 1 of the arguments put forward by the American Academy of Pediatrics has some theoretical relevance in relation to infant male circumcision; namely, the possible protection against urinary tract infections in infant boys, which can easily be treated with antibiotics without tissue loss. The other claimed health benefits, including protection against HIV/AIDS, genital herpes, genital warts, and penile cancer, are questionable, weak, and likely to have little public health relevance in a Western context, and they do not represent compelling reasons for surgery before boys are old enough to decide for themselves.
KW - AIDS
KW - HIV infection
KW - Male circumcision
KW - Penile carcinoma
KW - Sexually transmitted disease
KW - Urinary tract infection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875967918&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1542/peds.2012-2896
DO - 10.1542/peds.2012-2896
M3 - Article
C2 - 23509170
AN - SCOPUS:84875967918
SN - 0031-4005
VL - 131
SP - 796
EP - 800
JO - Pediatrics
JF - Pediatrics
IS - 4
ER -