Back to the News 2007 page.SUNDAY HERALD-SUN, Melbourne, Victoria, Sunday, August 12, 2007.
Suellen Hinde and Kelvin Healey
August 12, 2007 12:00am
CIRCUMCISION will be banned in Victorian public
hospitals unless it is for medical reasons.
State Government has ordered the ban, which starts
next month, following medical advice that circumcision
of baby boys was unnecessary.
Health Minister Daniel Andrews said circumcisions
would be performed only when doctors were concerned
about infection or disease.
"Nationally and overseas, doctors agree there is no
medical benefit to routine circumcision, and studies
show the complication rate is about 5 per cent,"
Mr Andrews said. The $2 million a year saved by the
ban will be spent on urgent elective surgery.
"It is important to ensure hospital services are
prioritised towards treating patients who have a
clinical need for surgery to improve their health," Mr
Andrews said.
Ministerial Advisory Committee on Elective Surgery
chairman Prof Michael Grigg said it was hard to justify
spending taxpayers' money on routine
circumcision.
"We should be spending relatively scarce health
dollars as effectively as we can to benefit the maximum
number of people," he said.
Prof Grigg said circumcision had marginal health
benefits for some people, but also had a risk of
complication.
About 2200 circumcisions were performed by Victorian
public hospitals in the 2005-06 financial year.
Parents who want to have their sons circumcised for
religious reasons will have to use a private
hospital.
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