Via IRIN News (8/8/07):
Expertsare warning Senegalese men who have sex with men not to get caught upin the hype about male circumcision after recent research indicatedthat the procedure could offer some protection against HIV, and areurging them to keep using other means of protection.
In 2006,the results of three studies, one each in South Africa, Kenya andUganda, showed that the risk of HIV infection was up to 60 percentlower among circumcised men. However, these studies were specific toheterosexual interaction.
The HIV prevalence among men whohave sex with men (MSM) in Senegal is an estimated 21.5 percent,according to the French Institute for Applied Medicine and Epidemiology(IMEA), compared to a national average of 0.7 percent. AIDS campaignersworry that the preliminary data on male circumcision could lead toreckless sex and an even higher HIV prevalence.
In a 2003study on stigma, violence and HIV among MSM by Dr Cheikh Niang of theCheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, only 23percent of MSM said they had used a condom during their last sexualencounter.
“Within Senegal’s cultural context … wherehomosexuality remains a taboo subject, we do not want to encouragepeople to hide behind the idea that circumcision completely preventsthe transmission of HIV,” Jean-Louis Rodriguez, former executivesecretary of And Ligeey, a Senegalese association working to protectthe rights of gay men, told IRIN/PlusNews.
He said the hiddennature of homosexuality in Senegal meant gay men often married or hadgirlfriends in order to fit into society, but still engaged inclandestine homosexual activity, putting many people at risk. In theIMEA study, 94 percent of participants also had sexual relations withwomen.
