SYDNEY, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) comes out against mandatory circumcision, despite a report released on Thursday that suggests the procedure is beneficial.
A study conducted by Brian Morris, professor emeritus at the University of Sydney, found that males who do not undergo the procedure to remove their foreskin face an 80 percent risk of needing medical attention at some point in their life, due to the extra skin.
Morris says the relatively low, one in 250 chances, of those who have their foreskin removed suffering some kind of mishap during the procedure, speak for themselves.
"Over their lifetime more than one in two uncircumcised males will suffer an adverse medical condition caused by their foreskin," Morris said.
"The enormous benefit but low risk makes early infant circumcision akin to childhood vaccination."
But the RACP disagrees, saying while the numbers might be in favor of the procedure, the stark reality remains that it is an invasive one and a decision should always be made by the families of those involved.
"The RACP believes that the frequency of diseases modifiable by circumcision, the level of protection offered by circumcision and the complication rates of circumcision do not warrant routine infant circumcision for healthy male infants in Australia and New Zealand," a RACP spokesperson said.
Current estimates in Australia suggest 10 to 20 percent of newborn male infants are circumcised.
