(Embargoed for release at 0100 GMT, Dec. 26) JOHANNESBURG, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Male circumcision, which has been shown to decrease the chances of contracting HIV, could save billions of dollars in AIDS-hit Africa, a new study has shown. Circumcision has emerged as a new tool in the battle against AIDS following results in three African studies which showed it cuts the chances of HIV infection by as much as 60 percent. Researchers who conducted one of the studies in Orange Farm outside of Johannesburg concluded that circumcising 1,000 men would prevent an estimated 300 new HIV infections over 20 years -- translating into savings of some $2.4 million that would have been spent on treating AIDS patients in this group alone. "I would say we're making two points -- it's an effective strategy and it's cost effective," said James Kahn of the University of California-San Francisco, one of the researchers on the project. The study in the medical journal PLoS Medicine has implications for other African countries, Kahn said. "The estimate is that a fully scaled-up programme might save ... well over $5 billion in savings if it were done throughout sub-Saharan Africa based on the infections prevented over 10 years," he said. While researchers have hailed the circumcision studies as opening a new front in the war on AIDS, some African governments have reacted cautiously -- noting that it appears to provide only partial protection against HIV. Public health experts have also warned that promoting circumcision may confuse or undercut other AIDS prevention strategies such as condom use and reducing a person's number of sexual partners. Khan said however that, on a cost basis, circumcision was a good idea for Africa. "HIV is particularly attractive (for finding cost savings) mainly because it's so serious a disease and so expensive to treat," he said. "But male circumcision looks pretty good compared to many other strategies that we use for HIV prevention." (additional reporting by Will Dunham in Washington)
