Results of the new study, “The Cost to Circumcise Africa,” comparing the cost of male circumcision to the cost of lifetime distribution of free condoms in sub-Saharan Africa, found that condom distribution is 95 times more cost-effective in preventing the same number of infections in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Male circumcision is too costly to justify in the HIV battle. Even if circumcision does offer some protection against heterosexually transmitted HIV, condoms clearly provide more protection, at a much lower cost,” says study co-author and Wellness Associates co-founder John Travis, MD, MPH. “We found that it just doesn’t make sense to perform mass surgeries in a region of the world struggling to meet the most basic healthcare needs, especially when there are more cost-effective plans for achieving the same results.”

In 1975, after six years in the US Public Health Service, and completing a residency in preventive medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, John Travis opened the world’s first wellness center, Wellness Resource Center (now Wellness Associates), in Mill Valley, California. His work attracted national attention, leading to an appearance on 60 Minutes with Dan Rather in 1979, and launching the hitherto unknown word "wellness" into the public domain.

The study will be published in Fall 2008.

###