African Boys Are Being Circumcised By Force. Is AIDS Panic The Cause?

Posting Date: 09/06/1999

Original broadcast date: August 20, 1999

Marilyn Milos from NOCIRC: I am calling to add some information to what you said the other day about a shoddy study done in Africa linking AIDS with uncircumcised men.

A health care worker in Africa has notified me that boys from the Luo tribe are being kidnapped, beaten, and forcibly circumcised. Unlike neighboring tribes, the Luos do not practice circumcision, so they are being blamed for the AIDS epidemic.

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Dr. Dean: How horrible. I hadn't heard of this. I can understand how easily it can happen because people always want someone to blame.

Visit the HIV and AIDS
and CircumcisionCenters

What a terrible result based on what I consider to be a terribly inept study. It's full of holes.

Marilyn Milos: Yes, and furthermore, America has one of the highest AIDS rates and one of the highest circumcision rates in the world. On this basis alone, the connection is preposterous. And yet, sloppy research spreads this fear that results in violence and suffering.

Dr. Dean: This ties in with the piece about superstition that opened today's program. Superstition misleadingly appears innocent. It can undermine social stability and rational choice, which is why I battle so hard against all the crazy beliefs out there.