Australian Associated Press (08.12.07)
Beginning in September, public hospitals in Victoria will perform male circumcisions only when the operation is medically necessary. Victoria is the fourth Australian state to announce such a decision.
Recent studies in Africa have found that circumcision reduces rates of female-to-male HIV transmission. The Victorian government, however, cited a World Health Organization report indicating that routine circumcision would have limited benefits in countries that, like Australia, have a low prevalence of HIV.
"Both nationally and overseas, doctors agree there is no medical benefit to routine circumcision, and studies show the complication rate is around 5 percent," said Daniel Andrews, Victoria's health minister. Now only 10-20 percent of baby boys are routinely circumcised in Australia and New Zealand, he said.
The approximately 2,000 circumcisions performed at Victorian hospitals in 2005-06 cost about $2 million (US $1.7 million). This money could better be spent on more urgent elective surgery, Andrews said: "It is important to ensure hospital services are prioritized towards treating patients who have a clinical need for surgery to improve their health." He said parents who wish to have their sons circumcised for religious reasons can have the operation done in private hospitals.
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