From hampton@netcom.comThu Oct 26 09:23:55 1995 Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 22:10:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Wayne Hampton Reply to: noharmm-l@mail.eskimo.com To: noharmm-l@eskimo.com Subject: Australian Major Action Hi All: This is a major alert although it might be puzzling as to exactly why. Background: The Australian College of Pediatrics has just come up with a new policy on circumcision. Unfortunately it is similar to, but somehow even more disgusting than the AAP'ss policy. Here is the summary that appeared in Australian Pediatrics 10 Oct 95: The Australian College of Pediatrics has abandoned its long-standing policy of discouraging neo-natal male circumcision (NMC). The college has adopted a new policy which says circumcision may offer possible health benefits, includ- ing a reduction in inflammation, in- fection and penile cancer. It says international data on the risks versus the benefits of circumci- sion do not allow the college to make dogmatic statements recommending one course or the other. Pediatricians should leave the de- cision on NMC to parents, the college now advises, and should be careful to 'avoid exaggeration of either the risks or the benefits of the procedure.' * Parents should be given up-to-date * unbiased written material to allow * them to make an informed choice, * which would mostly be on social, aes- * thetic, religious and family grounds, * rather than on medical grounds. The ACP said cancer of the penis occurred virtually only in uncircumcised males, at the low rate of between 1 in 600 and 1 in 900 peo- ple. Uncircumcised males needed to undertake lifelong penile hygeine to prevent local infection and inflamma- tion;the evidence for an increased risk of STDs was so inadequate that it was inappropriate to suggest routine NMC as a means of reducing HIV infection in Australia. * The AMA is to consider its position on Circumcision at a meeting on 9 December of the Ethics, Science and Social Issues Committee. This is in response to the Australian Law Review Board's recent statement that "parental consent may not prevent successful lawsuits by angry men". Many intactivists believe they are scared and are trying a last ditch effort to remain as the "foxes guarding the chickenhouse", and to protect their collective asses (if possible). In reality it is not possible -- NORM is quite active in Australia and International law is absolutely on our side. Please note the paragraph above which is flagged by asterisks. This paragraph is the very antithesis of current Internation Law which completely disallows "social surgery" as a concept. The potentially good news is that this statement comes only from the Australian College of Pediatrics and is set to be reviewed by an ethics committee of the Australian Medical Association. There is still a good chance left to influence things and it is an *ETHICS* committee doing the reviewing which one might hope to be open to influence by ethical argument. (Although time will tell.) Why this is important: First, it may be of extreme importance to some Australian baby boys. Second, we don't want them to come up with some innovation that sets back the clock of human rights. Instead we want them to recognize UN thinking on this issue. This would be an important precedent to hold up to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Remember: circumcision is a crime against the internationally recognized right of "security of person", second only to the right to life. What to do? Dust off your hard copy printers or find your manual writing implements and write the Australians at the addresses below. Major international pressure might be a surprise to them, and cogent arguments could be unbeatable. Angle: It may be an important advantage to *THEM* to adopt our way of thinking if we give them an "out". Richard DeSeabra's report yesterday gave me the idea. The theme is "Circumcision is obsolete." It covers their asses for the past, and lets them make the right choice for the future. Maybe our official organs should put out the message that we'll sit still for this. I'll bring it up to NOHARMM and NOCIRC and NORM in the near future. Please give this your attention. Richard has shared with me that the letter writing campaign to AAP's COPAM took them greatly by surprise. Lets do the same for the Australians, and indirectly for ourselves. Cheers, Wayne Here are the addresses and Richard DeSeabra's take on all this.... >From RSeabra@aol.com Wed Oct 25 13:35:21 1995 Let the ACP (Australian College of Paediatrics) know what you think of their new statement which essentially talks about "possible health benefits", including a reduction in inflammation, infection and penile cancer. (Fortunately they stated that it is "inappropriate to suggest routine circ as a means of reducing HIV infection in Australia"). They state, however, that paediatricians should "avoid exaggeration of either the risks or the benefits of the procedure". The rationale behind their wishy washy statement is that international data on the risks versus the benefits of circumcision do not allow the college to "make dogmatic statements" recommending one course or another. The most serious part states that parents should be given up-to-date unbiased written material to allow them to make an informed choice, which would mostly be "ON SOCIAL, AESTHETIC, RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY GROUNDS, RATHER THAN MEDICAL GROUNDS". Ask them to retract the statement immediately! Let 'em have it! Write to them at: The Australian College of Paediatrics PO Box 30 Parkville Victoria AUSTRALIA 3052 MORE DOWN UNDER: The AMA (Australian Medical Association) never had a policy on circumcision and is to consider its position on the matter at a meeting on 9 of December of the Ethics, Science and Social Issues Committee. It was decided the AMA should establish a policy on male circumcision taking into account the issue of legal liability. Please ask them not to make the same mistake the Australian College of Paediatrics made recently by making their new statement resemble the lame 1989 Statement by the AAP. Be diplomatic when writing to these guys. Send letters to : Secretary General: Dr. Bill Coote Australian Medical Association 42 Macquarie Street BARTON ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA Please don't underestimate the importance of this action. We can't have a domino effect of world medical associations becoming anti-intact. Richard DeSeabra _______________________________________________________________________________ Wayne Hampton hampton@netcom.com