In third world/unsanitary conditions, it almost certainly would reduce the rates of disease. Since I did some indepth studies on the topic, I can shed some light on the matter.
Victorians did promote the practice as a method of discouraging masturbation, but contrary to popular belief, the practice of circumcision did not become widespread. By 1940, only 10% of the American male population had a circumcised penis. If one takes into account the population of Muslims and Jews in the population that year, the number of newly-circumcised males seems small indeed.
The real quantum leap took place during WW2. Doctors noticed that in the unsanitary conditions in wartime trenches, infection rates skyrocketed, and became quite pandemic. This observation fueled an interest by the medical profession to a new look at the procedure as a preventative measure.
Widespread circumcision in the United States did not begin until after the war, directly as a result of those Wartime studies. Dr. Benjamin Spock promoted the idea in groundbreaking book in 1950, and the medical community quickly followed. In my generation (I was born in 1962) fully 80% (or more, in certain areas) of American babies were routinely circumcised.
I don't have an interest in discussing whether or not this was prudent, I merely stand here to provide information.
but now i know how to clean.
