No information is held centrally on the cost to the national health service of dealing with problems arising from circumcisions performed at home in each of the last three years.

The Department is clear that circumcision should ordinarily only be carried out for medical reasons. Where this, is the case, circumcision is undertaken by qualified medical clinicians to ensure minimal risk to patients.

In England, the national health service does not fund ritual circumcision. In some cases, where there have been instances of harm to children following non-therapeutic circumcision, local primary care trusts have decided to commission non-therapeutic circumcision services to ensure they comply with their duty to protect the health of their populations.

The Department agrees with General Medical Council, British Medical Association, and the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons that the welfare of infants who are circumcised must be paramount, whatever the reason for undertaking the procedure. Any medical procedure must be undertaken in hygienic conditions, with appropriate pain relief and aftercare.

No information is held centrally on the cost to the national health service of dealing with problems arising from circumcisions performed at home in each of the last three years.

The Department is clear that circumcision should ordinarily only be carried out for medical reasons. Where this, is the case, circumcision is undertaken by qualified medical clinicians to ensure minimal risk to patients.

In England, the national health service does not fund ritual circumcision. In some cases, where there have been instances of harm to children following non-therapeutic circumcision, local primary care trusts have decided to commission non-therapeutic circumcision services to ensure they comply with their duty to protect the health of their populations.

The Department agrees with General Medical Council, British Medical Association, and the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons that the welfare of infants who are circumcised must be paramount, whatever the reason for undertaking the procedure. Any medical procedure must be undertaken in hygienic conditions, with appropriate pain relief and aftercare.

The Crown Prosecution Service does not hold central data reporting the number of prosecutions against people alleged to have caused harm through the performance of home circumcision. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.

We have not made any assessment of the recent findings by Dr Aaron Tobian and colleagues in relation to the health benefits of male circumcision. The department has no plans to provide guidance on circumcision.

Information on the cost of male circumcisions performed in the national health service is not available. Such information as is available is in the following table: