A controversial product that provided a kit for performing a do-it-yourself circumcision to infants has been pulled from Amazon.com over safety concerns.
Complaints from secular groups lodged against the online mega-company warned the kits put babies at risk by encouraging unqualified practitioners to attempt the procedure.
In case you didn't know, an estimated 1 to 3 percent of young boys who undergo circumcision suffer disfiguring consequences or their member is lost completely due to a botched procedure.
The National Secular Society was one of the most vocal advocates for the removal of the products from the site's listings and wrote to Amazon twice to ask for the kits be "permanently removed from sale."
They also warned that the kits could lead to serious harm, especially considering the factors such as contamination or botching the surgery itself.
The Life/Form Circumcision Trainer Kits included surgical scissors, scalpels, a practice dummy with prosthetic foreskin replacements and instructions. The kits cost anywhere between £365 and £456 but were removed at last after an inquiry by The Independent.
The battle isn't over, there are still cheaper versions of the kits, some of which even include training dolls with foreskin replacements as well. It's quite the bizarre product that just doesn't sit right.
<img src="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/4ce9bb49b0926a4223429694457ed713df2ceffb08a71b94f16e6629434a8d13.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">
<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Credit: Life/Form</span>
The Independent says medical groups told them justifications for circumcision in boys under five are rare and the president of the British Association of Pediatric Urologists said the training kits "are not medically appropriate."
Circumcisions have been performed by nearly every culture for a variety of reasons, usually stemming from religion or are cultural in nature.
However, with everything we now know medically about circumcisions, including the risks of deformity, it seems it is time let this archaic tradition die out and leave the option for the procedure to adults of consenting age to get a cosmetic surgery.
If you're interested in reading exactly what the National Secular Society wrote to Amazon you can read it here:
"We write to bring to your attention our concerns about infant circumcision training kits currently being advertised and sold by Amazon UK and to ask that you permanently remove them from the sale. Male circumcision in the UK is wholly unregulated and we fear that the sale of this product may encourage unqualified practitioners to carry out unnecessary surgery on infants in non-clinical conditions, resulting in serious harm."
The description of the products still available says, "This worldwide procedure is performed for health, religious, or cultural reasons shortly after birth, around puberty, or during young adulthood."
The products also claim the World Health Organization (WHO) says, "evidence that indicates male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission by over 50 percent."
WHO does state in guidance for countries with high rates of HIV that there is evidence that professionally performed circumcision can reduce HIV infection in heterosexual men, however, the program WHO refers to is voluntary.
Although, perhaps there is an argument to be made for providing cheap access to the kits for third world countries who would otherwise be performing the procedure anyway with unsterile equipment and settings.
On the other hand, some anti-circumcision groups such as the Norwegian ruling party voted to ban circumcision altogether.
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wow. I suppose its better than the rusty, dull knives they use in Africa.