Mass circumcision in South African Prisions

South African prison ask to be circumcised

An incredible number of prisoners in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province are calling upon the authorities to circumcise them to help combat the spread of HIV. Health authorities say they have had more people wanting to be circumcised than their resources can manage and are overwhelmed.

World Health Organization (WHO) studies show compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60% and recommends that male circumcision should be considered an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention in countries and regions with heterosexual epidemics, high HIV and low male circumcision prevalence. Believe in circumcision varies widely in Sub-Saharan Africa as we reported here a couple of weeks ago. KwaZulu-Natal has one of the highest HIV infection rates in South Africa and the voluntary call by the prisoners to receive the service is an indication of the magnitude of the problem and also an encouraging sign that education makes an impact. Male circumcision provides only partial protection, and therefore should be only one element of a comprehensive HIV prevention package. Some figures on HIV in South Africa Number of people with HIV: 5.7 million Prevalence, ages 15 to 49: 18% Patients receiving anti-retroviral drugs: 460,000 (estimated in 2008) Deaths due to Aids: 350,000 (estimated in 2007) Number of Aids orphans: 1.4 million Source: UNAids/WHO/Unicef epidemiological fact sheet, 2008

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