Give ART with male circumcision?

A study suggests that providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV-positive men who wish to become circumcised could help reduce HIV transmission to their female partners, VOA reports. In the study, which was conducted in Uganda and published in PLOS Medicine, HIV-positive men experienced a temporary increase in penile shedding of the virus in the first three weeks after circumcision. This finding raises concerns about a possible increased risk of HIV transmission to women if couples do not abstain from sex for six weeks after the procedure and have unprotected sex before a circumcision wound has healed. After wound healing, viral shedding among the men was lower than it had been before the procedure. Reduced viral shedding was also associated with lower viral loads and with being on ART. The authors conclude that further research is needed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of providing ART before male circumcision and determine when the treatment should begin (VOA, 28 April 2015).