Cultural/medical anthropologist Daniel Halperin has been changing the trajectory of global health research and HIV prevention strategies as a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and frequent op-ed contributor and public spokesperson on HIV policies and research.

Two national magazines spotlighted Halperin last December for his breakthrough research on male circumcision and HIV transmission. "Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention," which includes research by Halperin published in The Lancet as early as 1999,  was listed as Time Magazine’s Top Medical Breakthrough of 2007. It was also listed as #15 in Discover magazine’s Top 100 Science Stories of 2007.  According to the articles, new research has found that circumcised men were at least 51 percent less likely than non-circumcised men to acquire HIV during intercourse with women. Following several years of research on this subject, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in March 2007 that it would promote circumcision as an HIV prevention measure in areas battling an HIV epidemic. 

On January 1, Halperin rang in the New Year with an opinion piece in the New York Times. The article, "Putting A Plague in Perspective" argues that increasing U.S. funding for HIV-AIDS programs may be focusing aid on the wealthiest and most developed nations in Africa while ignoring more ubiquitous global health problems such as malnutrition, pneumonia, inaccess to clean water, and even motor vehicle accidents.

More Links

Circumcision's Anti-AIDS Effects Found Greater Than First Thought New York Times

Experts Call for Rethinking AIDS Money Associated Press

Best Kept Secret for HIV-Free Africa Washington Post

AIDS Prevention: What Works? Washington Post

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