Israeli-developed PrePex, a nonsurgical method of circumcision, is this year’s winner of the Sutter Health Award at the prestigious Tech Awards 2015 handed out by the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California. The annual event celebrates those who are using technology to solve the world’s most pressing problems and using technology for good.
PrePex is developed by Circ MedTech, a social enterprise that aims to positively contribute to the global fight against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
The groundbreaking PrePex method requires no sutures, no injected anesthesia and sees no blood.
“PrePex offers a safe and simple non-surgical solution that does not require a surgical setting for implementation. The PrePex device can be utilized by community clinics, and is worn by men seven days, after which the foreskin becomes necrotic and can be painlessly and bloodlessly removed, with minimal disruption to daily activities,” the award committee wrote about the Israeli device.
More than two-thirds of all people living with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, according to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.
Numerous studies have shown that circumcision reduces the risk of HIV infection in men by at least 60 percent.
PrePex has been used in more than 100,000 procedures in Asia and Africa.