Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - July 22, 2007
Nick Bryant, BBC News, Sydney
More than 5,000 delegates will be presented with research confirming that male circumcision can reduce HIV infection rates by 60%.
The participants are also being urged to sign a declaration, which is aimed at boosting HIV research.
The document's main proposal is that HIV programmes should devote at least 10% of spending on research.
'Powerful tool'
It has long been known that HIV rates among Muslim men in sub-Saharan Africa were lower than non-Muslims, but it was not clear whether this was because they were circumcised or whether they had fewer sexual partners.
New evidence gathered in Kenya and Uganda confirms the findings of a previous study in South Africa - that male circumcision in young men can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 60%.
The trials in Kenya and Uganda each involved 2,000 heterosexual men, half of whom were circumcised.
In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, infection rates are up to 40% of the adult population - so male circumcision could be a powerful tool.
But experts are stressing the procedure needs to be carried out by experienced surgeons and accompanied by an education programme.
Access to drugs
The conference's delegates from more than 130 countries are also being urged to sign what is being called the Sydney Declaration.
Its central message is that governments need to dedicate more resources to HIV research if the world is to effectively combat the Aids pandemic.
The declaration says this will help speed up the implementation of new drugs and technologies to prevent, diagnose and treat an infection which has already killed 25 million people.
The forum will also hear that although a large majority of people who need anti-retroviral therapy in poor countries still do not receive these drugs, access has steadily improved in recent years.
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than one million people were receiving the drugs by June 2006 - a 10-fold increase since 2003.
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