Actor Moore To Donate Funds to Program That Trains Swazis To Perform Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention

Actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Roger Moore on Monday announced that he plans to donate proceeds from a concert in Israel to a program in which Israeli physicians train health workers in Swaziland to perform male circumcisions in an effort to curb the spread of HIV, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/24). Moore will donate the proceeds from an appearance at the fourth International Eilat Chamber Music Festival, according to the Jerusalem Post. "Prevention is the best cure of disease," Moore said (Siegel-Itzkovich, Jerusalem Post, 2/24).

Moore said that he expects to raise $5,000 for the program, adding, "Who better than Jewish and Muslim doctors (from Israel) to carry out this procedure? Because they do it by the thousands." About 185,000 people in Swaziland, which has a population of one million, are estimated to be living with HIV (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 2/24).

The World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Family Health International on Monday launched a new Web site, malecircimcision.org, that aims to serve as a clearinghouse for the generation and distribution of information about male circumcision and HIV prevention (UNAIDS release, 2/23).