With trials already showing that male circumcision reduces HIV risk in heterosexual men, new evidence reveals that the procedure also protects against other incurable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV), The Wall Street Journal reports. Both herpes and HPV increase the risk of HIV transmission.

According to the article, scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Makerere University in Uganda tracked the health of 1,684 circumcised African men and 1,709 uncircumcised men for two years. They found that circumcised heterosexual men are 35 percent less likely to contract HPV and 25 percent less likely to catch herpes than men who hadn’t undergone the medical procedure.

While the American Academy of Pediatrics stated in 1999 that evidence is “not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision,” the organization expects to finish reviewing its circumcision guidelines by the end of this year.