Royal Dutch Medical Association: Male Circumcision “Medically Unnecessary”

2010-05-30
By

The Royal Dutch Medical Association has published an official statement opposing male circumcision. A PDF of the full opinion is available here.

‘Violation of physical integrity’

Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) to discourage non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors

Utrecht, 27 May 2010 – The official standpoint of KNMG and other related medical/scientific organisations is that non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors is a violation of children’s rights to autonomy and physical integrity. KNMG is urging a strong policy of deterrence.

The reason for the adoption of an official standpoint regarding this matter is the increasing emphasis on the protection of children’s rights. Contrary to popular belief, circumcision can also cause complications – bleeding, infection, urethral stricture and panic attacks are particularly common. Full or partial penile amputations have also been reported as a consequence of complications.

KNMG is calling upon doctors to actively and insistently inform parents who are considering the procedure of the absence of medical benefits and the danger of complications. “The rule is: do not operate on healthy children”, says Arie Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, chairman of the KNMG. “It is an unfortunate fact that any surgical procedure can cause complications. Doctors accept this to a certain extent because there are medical reasons for the procedure. However, no complications can be justified that occur as the result of an operation that is medically unnecessary.”

Children’s rights

KNMG regards the non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors as a violation of physical integrity, a constitutional right that protects individuals against unwanted internal or external physical modifications. According to the KNMG, minors should only be subjected to medical procedures in the event of illness or abnormalities, or if a convincing case can be made that the procedure is in the interests of the child (such as vaccination).


Dialogue

The KNMG sees good reasons for the statutory prohibition of non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors, but fears that the procedure will then be driven underground, leading to an increase in the number of complications.

The Medical Association is aware that the practice of circumcision of male minors has deep religious, symbolic and cultural meaning. The KNMG respects this, and is calling for dialog among medical associations, experts and the relevant religious groups.

Wide support

The following medical and scientific organisations officially support the standpoint of the KNMG: the Dutch Urological Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Urologie), the Dutch College of General Practitioners (Het Nederlands Huisartsengenootschap), the Dutch Paediatric Surgery Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kinderchirurgie), the Dutch Plastic Surgery Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Plastische Chirurgie), the Association of Surgeons of the Netherlands (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Heelkunde) and the Dutch Paediatric Association (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kindergeneeskunde).

A survey among a representative sample of KNMG members recently showed that individual doctors widely support the above standpoint.

The Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) is the professional organization that represents more than 46,000 physicians and students in the Netherlands. The KNMG is the federation of medical practitioners’ professional associations: the National Association of salaried Doctors (LAD), the National Association of General Practitioners (LHV), the Dutch Association for occupational Health (NVAB), the Dutch Association of Insurance Medicine (NVVG), the Dutch Order of Medical Specialists (Orde) and Elderly care physicians (Verenso). www.knmg.nl

Download: Viewpoint: Non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors

  • Brandon

    It is about time!!

  • http://circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/ Dan Bollinger

    Hoath, They did miss a few, including death. Did you know? The article you cited was mine. It wasn’t published in time for the KNMG to include it in their statement. I hope the AAP considers it while updating their male circumcision policy statement, due out later this year. It think the other article you mention is the Sorrells et al. article, a fine piece of primary research.

    I was a little disappointed in the KNMG’s conclusion where they backtrack a little with a cultural relativistic suggestion.

  • http://www.icgi.org Dan Bollinger

    Like Svoboda, I was sent the same press release by KNMG, and was pleasantly surprised, elated even, to hear that a coalition of medical associations finally opposed male genital cutting on children. It’s about time that the world realizes that the only difference between FGM and MGM is the perpetrator’s gender preference.

  • P D Hoath

    There are a couple of complications they missed:

    Loss of sexual feeling (Fine-touch pressure thresholds in the adult penis, BJU Int. 99(4):864-69. April 2007)

    Death in 1 in 11,000 neonatal circumcisions (Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies, Volume 4, Number 1 / Spring 2010, 78-90)


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