Circumcision can reduce HIV risk

Men who are circumcised are at less risk of contracting HIV -- the virus that leads to AIDS -- according to new research by doctors in Australia.

After examining more than forty studies, they concluded that most infected men caught HIV through the penis and that the virus targets specific cells in the foreskin.

They suggest that circumcising boys at puberty could be an effective way of reducing HIV transmission rates. The researchers suggest that in future a cream or gel containing chemicals to block the HIV-receptors could be applied to the penis as a so-called "chemical condom". Around twenty five million men worldwide are infected with HIV.

The researchers say that seventy percent contract the virus through conventional sex with women, and a small proportion acquire it through penetrating their homosexual partners.

Other research just published suggests that HIV has existed since the 1930s -- much earlier than had been thought.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service