BMJ 1996;312:377 (10 February)

Letters

Circumcision of children

EDITOR,--We are all adult men who believe that we have been harmed by circumcision carried out in childhood by doctors in Britain. We are concerned about the ethics of this surgery on children and that it is commonly carried out when it is not essential. We have read the BMA's ethical guidelines, which give no guidance to practitioners who are faced with a boy who has been referred for circumcision.1 The possible future wishes of the patient should be considered.

Although it was shown 28 years ago that preputial development continues to the age of 17 and that only three of 1968 boys needed surgery,2 many British doctors still seem to be ignorant of this research.3 The European charter for children in hospital states that every child must be protected from unnecessary medical treatment. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have rights to . . . [Full text of this article]


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