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Published online 15 December 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news061211-17

Column

Time for the chop

The world has been offered a rare chance to cut the risk of HIV, if only circumcision can be offered widely and safely.

The evidence is now overwhelming: circumcision can have a huge effect on the spread of HIV, cutting risks of infection in African men by about half. Now it's up to the World Health Organisation to decide whether they should advise certain countries to offer circumcision on a massive scale.

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