I don't think anyone serious about the avoidance of STDs would recommend circumcision as a sole prophylactic.
Rather, circumcision has certain benefits that are thought to reduce risk:
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health...shows.html
The examples you brought up do not necessarily direct one to any concrete conclusions. In your case, you brought up a few countries where, as you mentioned, people looked at circumcision as a the sole prophylactic. What one might surmise from this assumption is that someone who sees his circumcised penis as being naturally safe from disease might engage in more risky behavior, thus increasing his chances of getting disease.
According to the article above:
"Austrian researchers analyzing biopsies from 20 circumcised and uncircumcised men found that the inner foreskin of the penis contains a higher concentration of Langerhans cells -- a prime target of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV -- than any other part of the male foreskin. Because this would make the inner foreskin more susceptible to HIV, removing it through circumcision would help lower a man's risk of contracting HIV, they concluded."
Also, your reference to Malawi is interesting, but according to some it is an anomaly, which may be attributed to "certain behaviors."
http://paa2007.princeton.edu/download.as...onId=71928
Rather, circumcision has certain benefits that are thought to reduce risk:
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health...shows.html
The examples you brought up do not necessarily direct one to any concrete conclusions. In your case, you brought up a few countries where, as you mentioned, people looked at circumcision as a the sole prophylactic. What one might surmise from this assumption is that someone who sees his circumcised penis as being naturally safe from disease might engage in more risky behavior, thus increasing his chances of getting disease.
According to the article above:
"Austrian researchers analyzing biopsies from 20 circumcised and uncircumcised men found that the inner foreskin of the penis contains a higher concentration of Langerhans cells -- a prime target of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV -- than any other part of the male foreskin. Because this would make the inner foreskin more susceptible to HIV, removing it through circumcision would help lower a man's risk of contracting HIV, they concluded."
Also, your reference to Malawi is interesting, but according to some it is an anomaly, which may be attributed to "certain behaviors."
http://paa2007.princeton.edu/download.as...onId=71928