The health department is seeking community feedback as it considers a pro-circumcision campaign to battle HIV/AIDS across Brooklyn and the city.
"New York City remains the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic," city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a New York Times interview. That assessment has the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene meeting with organizations, including gay rights groups, to determine whether a circumcision campaign would be effective.
The move comes after the Word Health Organization recently reported the results of a South Africa study. The study, reported in the Public Library of Science Medicine, found circumcision among heterosexual men reduced the rate of HIV infection by 60 percent.
While health experts say the procedure is not a cure-all, and the risk of infection still exists, they argue these initial findings are promising. Doctors still recommend using condoms.