TY - JOUR T1 - CDC's Male Circumcision Recommendations Represent a Key Public Health Measure JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 15 LP - 27 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00390 VL - 5 IS - 1 AU - Brian J Morris AU - John N Krieger AU - Jeffrey D Klausner Y1 - 2017/03/24 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/5/1/15.abstract N2 - Frisch and Earp, opponents of male circumcision, have criticized draft recommendations from the CDC that advocate counseling men and parents of newborn boys in the United States about the benefits and risks of male circumcision. We provide a rebuttal to Frisch and Earp's criticisms and contend that the recommendations are entirely appropriate and merit consideration for policy development.After an extensive evaluation of the scientific evidence, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released draft policy recommendations in December 2014 affirming male circumcision (MC) as an important public health measure.1–3 The CDC's summary1 (Box 1) was accompanied by a 61-page literature review.2 The CDC supported the 2012 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) infant MC policy4,5 (Box 2) and recommended that providers: (1) give parents of newborn boys comprehensive counseling about the benefits and risks of MC; (2) inform all uncircumcised adolescent and adult males who engage in heterosexual sex about the significant, but partial, efficacy of MC in reducing the risk of acquiring HIV and some sexually transmitted infections (STIs) through heterosexual sex, as well as about the potential harms of MC; and (3) inform men who have sex with men (MSM) that while it is biologically plausible that MC could benefit MSM during insertive sex, MC has not been proven to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV or other STIs during anal sex.3BOX 1 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Summary of Its Draft Male Circumcision Recommendations1These recommendations are intended to assist health care providers in the United States who are counseling men and parents of male infants, children and adolescents in decision-making about male circumcision. Such decision-making is made in the context of not only health considerations, but also other social, cultural, ethical, and religious factors. Although data have been accumulating about infant male circumcision for many years, clinical … ER -