Hadassah helps prevent HIV/AIDS in Africa through circumcision .

The Hadassah Medical Organization and the Jerusalem AIDS Project have teamed up to help prevent the spread of HIV by improving the provision of male circumcision in a number of African countries.

“Operation AB” was launched this week through a pilot project in Swaziland, which will focus on capacity building and personnel training.  Teams of specialist surgeons and public health experts including Hadassah medical specialists will provide training at community-based clinics and government hospitals. Several hundred procedures are planned and 15 local doctors will be trained to carry out the procedure.

Clinical trials in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa have concluded that removal of the foreskin reduces HIV transmission by up to 60 per cent; and the World Health Organization has called on African countries to integrate male circumcision into existing national and community-based HIV prevention efforts.
 
With over 70,000 hospital/clinic-based male circumcisions having been carried out in Israel since 1989, and over 52,000 infants undergoing circumcisions every year, Israeli doctors have much experience to offer in this field.

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The Hadassah Medical Organisation is an academic centre that consists of two hospitals and five academic medical schools in Jerusalem, Israel. A world-class university medical institution, it has achieved a global reputation for excellence in healing, teaching, research and outreach. It is distinguished by its innovative approach to complex medical problems and the cooperative efforts of its medical and research teams. Its mission to extend the benefits of modern  health  to the third world goes back over forty years and Hadassah has been active in over  90 countries.

For more information, please contact Dr Henri Stellman, Executive Director, Hadassah Medical Relief Association UK, see details above.