Campaigners are calling for “barbaric” male circumcision to be treated like the illegal practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Based in the US state of Michigan, anti-circumcision NoCirc group held a protest outside the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit over the weekend, calling for an end to removing the foreskin of baby boys.

The hospital has recently made headlines because it used to employ Dr Jumana Nagarwala, who has been accused of performing FGM on young girls.

NoCirc mocked a statement put out by the Henry Ford hospital following Dr Nagarwala’s arrest, which said "We would never support or condone anything related to this practice."

“Really?” the group responded. “The hospital mutilates the genitals of hundreds of baby boys every year!”

Unlike FGM, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers a harmful practice, circumcision is considered to be better for hygiene.

It is also thought to decrease the risk of urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases and penile cancer.

NoCirc claimed 53,000 newborn boys in the state are circumcised every year.

Data by a group lobbying for a Male Genital Mutilation Bill used open source medical data to place Michigan in the highest bracket for circumcision in the US. It showed 84 per cent of newborn boys underwent the practice in 2013.

While it is commonly carried out for religious reasons, doctors disagree on the extent of its health benefits. While it can reduce the risk of HIV infection, its impact on other diseases and conditions is regarded as negligible.

“The genital integrity of both girls, boys, and intersex needs to be protected from the harm of circumcision,” said Norm Cohen, Executive Director of NoCirc.

“Male circumcision is a barbaric practice driven by the same reasons as female genital mutilation: cleanliness, tradition, religion, and pseudoscience!”

“However, the slightest cutting of girls' genitals, regardless of religious belief, is a five-year felony.”

In a statement to the Detroit Metro Times, Mr Cohen added: "Doctors and hospitals profit by perpetuating the myth that infant circumcision is health care. It is not. It is a harmful custom that removes a normal, functioning part of a child’s genitals at the request of his parents.”

FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Show all 12 1 /12 FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl cries after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM The traditional practice of circumcision within the Pokot tribe is a rite of passage that marks the transition to womanhood and is a requirement for all girls before they marry Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls are encouraged to leave their hut and make their way to a place where they will take off their clothes and wash during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised in a tribal ritual in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls, draped in animal skins, sit on rocks during their circumcision ceremony REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman performs a circumcision on a girl REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot woman holds a razor blade after performing a circumcision on four girls REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl bleeds onto a rock after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl is smeared with a white paint after being circumcised REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM More than a quarter of girls and women in Kenya have undergone genital cutting, according to United Nations data REUTERS FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, walks to a place where she will rest after being circumcised Reuters FGM tribal circumcision ceremony in Baringo County Kenya FGM Pokot girls covered with animal skins squat on rocks after being stripped naked and washed during their circumcision rite in a village about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County REUTERS

The view that circumcision could be driven by profit has been echoed by doctors within Michigan.

The practice can by “highly remunerative”, according to Timothy Johnson, a University of Michigan professor of obstetrics and gynecology.