Comments for Border Crossings

Comment on Lemony, floral … by holli

holli — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:07:02 +0000

Hey there – just dropped by, saw you posted… it’s been a while. The coffee shop stuff sounds yummy! In fact, I’m on my way out to the local coffee shop here (visiting my family back in Canada). Ghana doesn’t have many…

Comment on Learning to swim with sickle cell by maamej

maamej — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:49:29 +0000

He made it! Two weeks of swimming lessons and no sickling crises, just one happy kid. Hurray!

Comment on Learning to swim with sickle cell by maamej

maamej — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:26:54 +0000

Seven days down and no problems – and he can swim!

Comment on Learning to swim with sickle cell by maamej

maamej — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:22:51 +0000

Just an update – 4 days into swimming and all is well. He’s still in baby pool but told me yesterday, with great satisfaction, that he can back-stroke.

Comment on Bouquet to RACP by maamej

maamej — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:23:27 +0000

Thanks Mark, will take a look at them.

Comment on Bouquet to RACP by Mark Lyndon

Mark Lyndon — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:37:54 +0000

This is the one and only RCT into male-to-female transmission: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2809%2960998-3/abstract 17 (18%) women in the intervention group and eight (12%) women in the control group acquired HIV during follow-up (p=0·36). This is not the first time that HIV in women has been linked to male circumcision. This study : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8082965?dopt=Abstract concluded: "History of multiple sexual partners, history of STD, high household income, **partner circumcision**, and past oral contraceptive use remained strongly associated with HIV-1 infection even when simultaneously controlling for other covariates."

Comment on Bouquet to RACP by maamej

maamej — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:18:53 +0000

Wow, I’ve never heard that statistic – what’s your source? Certainly I agree with you it’s a distraction and is in no way an alternative to taking responsibility for your sex life.

Comment on Bouquet to RACP by Mark Lyndon

Mark Lyndon — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:48:36 +0000

Circumcision is a dangerous distraction in the fight against the big bogey HIV. There are six African countries where men are more likely to be HIV+ if they’ve been circumcised: Cameroon, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, and Swaziland. Eg in Malawi, the HIV rate is 13.2% among circumcised men, but only 9.5% among intact men. In Rwanda, the HIV rate is 3.5% among circumcised men, but only 2.1% among intact men. If circumcision really worked against AIDS, this just wouldn’t happen. We now have people calling circumcision a “vaccine” or “invisible condom”, and viewing circumcision as an alternative to condoms.

The one study into male-to-female transmission showed a 50% higher rate in the group where the men had been circumcised btw.

ABC (Abstinence, Being faithful, Condoms) is the way forward. Promoting genital surgery will cost African lives, not save them.

Comment on Copping it by maamej

maamej — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:22:48 +0000

Yes – but what we see as balance the kids see as overkill. But it looks like it pans out differently when parents are still together.

Comment on Copping it by americanepali

americanepali — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:55:23 +0000

Although I’m quite far away from having children of my own, I can definitely foresee teenagers rolling there eyes at me some day and proclaiming me far more interested in Nepali culture than my own. I like to think I give equal credit to both, but living in America, when we do Nepali things it just looks so much more apparent. I hope to instill an interest and appreciation of both cultures in any future children… but I guess one needs to find a balance.