The hopes for an HIV vaccine are a distant dream and the cost of medications are out of reach, so circumcision could be a low-cost, one-time intervention that might slow the spread of this global plague. .
There are also biological reasons that suggest the foreskin is especially vulnerable to HIV. Researchers suspect that the fragility of the foreskin tissue is one of the main entrances for HIV. The foreskin can tear and bleed during sex, providing a pathway for bacteria into the bloodstream. Circumcision advocates have argued that the procedure reduces susceptibility to a variety of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly those that form soft sores, such as syphilis. There is ample evidence that a man who has a history of STDs, particularly ulcerative forms, runs a higher risk of HIV infection. More recent research has determined that the foreskin is exceptionally rich in a specialized white blood cell that acts as a sentry for the human immune system. These blood cells, known as Langerhans cells, lodge in the fragile mucous tissue of the inner lining of the foreskin, which is an environment similar to that found in the vagina, cervix, or rectum. When Langerhans' cells !.
encounter invading bacteria, they produce a variety of chemical signals that, like a Marine's war cry, rally the bloodstream's various immunity soldiers. The problem is that HIV has a particular attraction for these soldier cells and the virus locks to a certain receptor on their surface. These specialized white blood cells are designed to protect the foreskin from microorganism attacks; they are instead making the foreskin the open doorway for the HIV infection of males. Cultures that do not engage in the practice of circumcision may therefore become more vulnerable to the disease, supporters say. There is little evidence of such high AIDS rates in Western Africa, where traditions of circumcision date back thousands of years.