Commissioner: New York Times article a "misrepresentation" of circumcision policy

Today, the commissioner of New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued a memo criticizing the New York Times for "misrepresentation" in its article New York City Plans to Promote Circumcision to Reduce Spread of AIDS, published April 5th, 2007.

Recent media reports misrepresent the Health Department’s response to recent studies...

Circumcision enthusiasts had been gratified by the reported plan to encourage circumcision in New York City, despite lack of evidence in its favor:

We do not yet know what impact circumcision could have on HIV transmission in New York City, and we have not suggested or planned any initiative or campaign. Quite to the contrary, I indicated in an interview with the New York Times (the source of the misrepresentation) that I very much doubted that even 1% of men at high risk in NYC would undergo the procedure.

Tips to fellow bloggers El Blabbeador and LifeLube for scooping me on this story.

Once again, when it comes to accurate information about circumcision,
"A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on." -- C. H. Spurgeon (quoting an old proverb)

These two recent diaries here at DailyKos, NYC combats HIV with circumcision and Circumcision prevents AIDS(poll), whose titles and content were already inaccurate, now have additional corrections to make, especially retracting the claim that the authors of a promising new HIV study (Scientists Discover 'Natural Barrier' to HIV, full text pdf) are "junk scientists" in the former.

UPDATE:
Circumcision and HIV blog provides this update:

The New York Times published a correction by the health commissioner today stating that the "New York Health Department has not planned, developed or announced a campaign to encourage at-risk men to get circumcised." The health commissioner called such a plan premature.