Impact of male circumcision on the HIV epidemic in Papua New Guinea: a country with extensive foreskin cutting practices.

ABSTRACT: The degree to which adult medical male circumcision (MC) programs can reduce new HIV infections in a moderate HIV prevalence country like Papua New Guinea (PNG) are uncertain especially given the widespread prevalence of longitudinal foreskin cuts among adult males. We estimated the likely impact of a medical MC intervention in PNG using a mathematical model of HIV transmission. The model was age-structured and incorporated separate components for sex, rural/urban, men who have sex with men and female sex workers. Country-specific data of the prevalence of foreskin cuts, sexually transmitted infections, condom usage, and the acceptability of MC were obtained by our group through related studies. If longitudinal foreskin cutting has a protective efficacy of 20% compared to 60% for MC, then

SUBMITTER: Gray RT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4128698 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature