B.C. doctor teaches circumcision in Haiti

In Neil Pollock’s home province of British Columbia, a group called Foreskin Pride has actually held protests against circumcision, the procedure that has formed the heart of Pollock’s medical career for 20 years.

In the crumbling Caribbean nation of Haiti, the operation made him something of a hero.

Pollock spent a week in the country recently, delivering an unusual bit of foreign aid.

In a place beset by violence, poverty and the aftermath of 2010’s devastating earthquake, he trained surgeons to perform the almost-painless form of circumcision he has perfected.

It is hoped the operation will become a mainstay in the battle against the country’s HIV epidemic, with evidence suggesting the penis-snipping can cut spread of the disease by 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, Pollock earned a surprise visit in Port au Prince from Hollywood philanthropists Sean Penn and Charlize Theron, also now a couple, who watched as he taught his technique.

Circumcision, long a religious rite for Muslims and Jews, remains something of a controversial topic in the medical world, the foreskin-rights movement aside, and numbers of procedures are dwindling.

The Canadian Paediatric Society says the benefits of removing a boy’s foreskin do not outweigh the risks, in terms of pain and possible complications, but that view is far from universal.

Pollock dedicates his practice to circumcision and “no-scalpel, no-needle” vasectomies at his Vancouver clinic.

Using special techniques to administer the local anesthetic and other modifications, he says he can now carry out a circumcision in about 30 seconds, almost painlessly.

After research emerged that circumcision can significantly curb the spread of HIV — the mucosal surface of the foreskin can hasten uptake of the virus — he spent several days in Rwanda in 2009, training doctors there.

More recently, Jeff Klausner, a medical professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, discussed with contacts in Haiti the idea of bringing back the largely overlooked procedure there.

Though HIV rates have fallen dramatically, the disease still afflicts about one in 50 Haitians, many of whom do not even know they are infected, said Klausner, a former CDC official in Africa.

He asked around for someone to teach the Haitian doctors. Everyone told him Pollock “had a reputation for being the best in the field and a great trainer.”

The only catch is the American had no funding, so Pollock raised $25,000 himself from friends and family, $10,000 from his own pocket.

Everyone told

him Pollock ‘had

a reputation for

being the best in

the field and a

great trainer.’