摘要：Historically, sexual and reproductive behavior does receive social, political and religious influences. Male circumcision has been proposed recently as a public health strategy to reduce Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission. The aim of this paper is to review male circumcision implications and its impact in preventing HIV transmission, in a historical context. A non-systematic review of available bibliography was made, up to today, using Pubmed and Bireme data bases. First records of male circumcision are more than 4000 years. Mostly it has been used in a religious context. Female circumcision is traditionally questioned, but male not. The therapeutic indication for circumcision includes phimosis, paraphimosis, and repeated infections of the glans; however, its prophylactic recommendation is questioned. Medical and psychological complications associated with male circumcision are frequent. Available evidence shows a consistent diminution of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Chlamydia trachomatis transmission, but not HIV. There are ethical and medical questions related to the systematic practice of male circumcision, especially in children. Male circumcision is a millenary practice, which is effective to reduce HPV and Chlamydia trachomatis transmission, but not HIV. Additional debates about medical and ethical implications of masculine circumcision are required.
