Doctors question medical benefits of circumcision

OLONGAPO, Philippines : Circumcision is an age-old rite of passage for young boys in the Philippines, but a group of surgeons question the medical benefits of going through such a tradition.

Nelia Tabiolo, mother of a 10-year-old boy, had to drag his son to a makeshift operating room in Olongapo where a free circumcision clinic is being held. This is the second time her son has tried to run away from the procedure.

"I want (my son) Jonathan to be circumcised because I want him to become a man and have good health," said Tabiolo.

Situations like this have led a group of doctors to question the basis of routine circumcision in the country.

"You are subjecting or mutilating boys when they undergo circumcision. This is a traumatic and painful experience for everyone who eventually undergoes circumcision. If you weigh the benefits, risks and costs of doing routine circumcision, it is not very rational," said Dr Jeffy Guerra, Chief Resident, Surgery Department, Manila Hospital.

Since 2002, surgeons at the government hospital have stopped offering routine circumcision and have campaigned against it.

Anti-circumcision advocates believe that young boys should not be forced into circumcision because of cultural tradition and peer pressure. They believe it is important for parents to understand both the benefits and risks of routine circumcision before allowing their children to be circumcised.

According to surgeons, recent studies show that the medical benefits of routine circumcision is not compelling enough.

"The incidence of penile cancer worldwide is less than 2% and to do the procedure for such a low incidence would be an overkill," said Dr Guerra.

Doctors admit that changing Filipinos' long-held beliefs towards circumcision is difficult, but for anthropologist Dr Michael Tan, it is high time that Filipino families re-think these rituals.

"With time, we will have to redefine the contours of being a man, that a man is not just your foreskin but much more. (It's about) a sense of character, of being of strong character," said Dr Tan. - By Channel NewsAsia's Philippines Correspondent Christine Ong