Medical History Of Infant Circumcision Timeline Circumcision Through History: The 2000’s
“Historically, circumcision has been touted to cure whatever disease or fear at the time was on the minds of the population.” –Steven Scott
This timeline provides an overview of how doctors’ rationalizations/pretexts have changed drastically since they first began promoting it.
This page covers the 2000’s
See here for the 1900s
&
Here for the 1800s
15 Square estimates that at least 9 out of 10 patients undergoing circumcision in British hospitals do not need to be there.
Conservative, non-surgical treatments for common foreskin problems are much easier, cheaper and far less likely to cause long-term harm to the patient.
Intact Men
General Advice & Alternatives to circumcision
It is important that doctors keep up to date and ensure that any decisions to undertake an invasive procedure are based on the best available evidence.
Therefore to circumcise for therapeutic reasons, where medical
research has shown other techniques to be at least as effective, and less invasive would be unethical and inappropriate.
[The law & ethics of male circumcision – Guidance for Doctors, BMA, March 2003]
As a voluntary organisation, 15 Square depends on donations to fund its work.
If you would like more information on donating to our work or on how to become a member, please contact us
2000s
(Note: Since the 1980s, some amputated infant foreskins have been sold without the knowledge of the parents to biomedical companies for research and even use in commercial cosmetic products such as anti-wrinkle creams.) [Sustained ability for fibroblast outgrowth from stored neonatal foreskin. Journal of Dermatology Science. 2002 Feb;28(2):152-8]
[It’s wise to circumcise: time to change policy. Pediatrics. 2003 Jun;111(6 Pt 1):1490 -1]
(Note: There was no WHO call for mass female circumcision to help prevent AIDS)
[Female circumcision and HIV infection in Tanzania: for better or for worse? Third International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment. Rio de Janeiro, 25-27 July 2005]
(Note: This and other similar studies were widely reported throughout the American media.) [Male circumcision for HIV prevention for young men in Kisumu, Kenya. Lancet 2007;369 (9562):643-56]
(Note: This and other similar studies were widely ignored throughout the American media.) [Langerin is a natural barrier to HIV-1 transmission by Langerhans cells. Nature Medicine 2007;(13):367-371]
[Fine touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis. British Journal of Urology International. 2007;99:864-9]
“Circumcision is a solution in search of a problem.” –Edward Wallerstein
For a referenced discussion (comprehensible to non-professionals) of the more recent claims within the medical literature that routine infant circumcision is effective in preventing sand accumulation, UTIs, STDs, AIDS, various cancers etc, visit: http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/
