Responding to requests from several African countries, The Hadassah Medical Organization of Israel and the Jerusalem AIDS Project have teamed up to implement "Operation AB" – a medical and public health response to support scale up measures to enhance male circumcision (MC) services for HIV prevention in a number of interested countries Africa. “Operation AB” follows the comprehensive guidelines of UNAIDS and The World Health Organization.
Launched this week as a pilot in Swaziland, “Operation AB” inaugurates an international partnership aimed at significantly scaling up MC in Swaziland through capacity building and training of personnel. The project brings together The Jerusalem AIDS Project, a veteran non-for-profit international, regional and national NGO, based in Israel, The Hadassah Medical Organization, The Government of Swaziland and the Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS).
The pilot entails, three two week periods, each with teams of specialist surgeons and public health experts. Each team will consist of two surgeons and one health educator. During each period the JAIP-Hadassah experts will provide training in MC, clinical and public health guidance and support service delivery at community-based clinics and government hospitals. Several hundred procedures are planned and 15 local doctors will be trained in adult MC.
Male Circumcision is now a proven intervention which reduces dramatically the probability of heterosexual transmission of HIV from infected women to men. Three clinical trials in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa concluded that the removal of the foreskin reduced HIV transmission by up to 60%. As a result, the World Health Organization called on countries in Africa to integrate male circumcision into existing national and community – based HIV prevention packages and services.
Very few countries have had experience with large numbers of hospital/clinic-based circumcisions in adults. Israel is one of them. From 1989 to date, over 70,000 hospital/clinic-based adult circumcisions were performed in Israel - mostly for newly arriving (Jewish) immigrants from Eastern Europe and Ethiopia (age range 6M-94Y). In addition, over 52,000 Jewish, Muslim and Christian infants are circumcised traditionally in Israel every year.
The team of experts currently in Swaziland include: Dr Inon Schenker, PhD, MPH, Senior HIV/AIDS Prevention Specialist of the Jerusalem AIDS Project and Operation AB Director, Dr Eitan Gross, MD, Specialist in General and Pediatric Surgery at Hadassah, who is the Medical Director of “Operation AB” and Dr Moshe (Melvyn) Westreich, MD. Head, Department of Plastic Surgery, Assaf Harofe Government Hospital in Israel and a Senior Consultant to the project
“Operation AB” is supported by a generous grant of The Hadassah Medical Organization, by private donations and by Tuttnauer, leaders in sterilization and infection control.
For more information:
In Swaziland:
Dr Inon Schenker: +268 6546893
Dr Eitan Gross: +268 6546895
In Jerusalem:
Yael Bossem- Levy- 050-4048666
Ms. Corina Chang (JAIP): +972 2 6797677