circumcision Archives

June 5, 2011

Going Under the Knife to Cut HIV Chances

Kenya has managed to bring down the high rate of HIV through a campaign promoting male circumcision but a funding crisis is preventing the effective measure from being rolled out on a wider scale.

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November 11, 2010February 9, 2011

Female circumcision and Ugandan politics

(A comprehensive discussion of female genital mutilation is available here)

Although Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM) has been condemned by international bodies as an abuse of human rights, a vast majority of people from the Sebei tribe in Uganda still practice the dangerous tradition.

Despite the practice having been banned outright in the eastern African country since last year, some 200 young girls from the Sebei tribe have “willingly” registered to be circumcised in December this year.

The practice, which is common among people from the Sebei tribe of Bukwo and Kapchora districts at the foot of mountain Elgon, 400 kms east of Kampala, is categorized by World Health Organization as Female Genital Mutilation due to the damage it causes to circumcised women’s sexuality. It also leads to various complications.

After confirming that women in Sabiny tribe are among the most affected by the practice, anti Female genital mutilation advocate, Dr Betty Nalongo, explained how the bloody practice affects women: “FGM, refers to the removal of the external female genitalia. It is not only painful but also makes the victim never to enjoy sex after the mutilation.”

Notwithstanding its adverse effects, including childbirth related complications, a Sabiny man, Rogers Kyesang says that people from his tribe want their “girls and women to be circumcised because circumcised women are less interested in sex and therefore can not have extra-marital relationships while in marriage.”

But Cecilia Chemutai, 30, a woman who underwent the painful experience 10 years ago says: “I regret why I accepted to be circumcised. I feel much pain during sexual intercourse with my husband… and childbirth is very difficult”. She does not understand why girls voluntarily go for the exercise.

One of the girls who has decided to get circumcised in December this year, Gladys Ketrai, 19, says she wants “to be circumcised” in order for her to “fit well among the already circumcised women” of her “tribe.” “It is an old tradition which all women in the past underwent. Why should I avoid the exercise when my mother and grandmother went through it?” she argues.

Meanwhile, a government official in Sebei, Thomas Sakkwa has hinted that the decision from the girls are anything but voluntary. “Some of the young girls are teased into being circumcised… by elderly women. Whenever they they come across uncircumcised girls, they tease them that they are not fit to be within their company because they are not yet circumcised.”

But with all the government official’s concern, no politician has dared to remind the people of Sebei of the illegality of the practice due to the pending elections. They fear that any attack on the practice could cost them vital votes due to the fact that many local people there revere circumcision. A law against Female Genital Mutilation has been in place in Uganda for several months.

Uganda is to hold presidential and general elections in Febuary, 2011, and many people hope that the law against circumcision will be resurrected to save girls and young women from the blade after the elections.

(Afrik-News)

October 31, 2010January 22, 2011

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

October 20, 2010January 21, 2011

Belief in Male Circumcision in Sub-Saharan Africa

Male circumcision is believed to reduce the risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS in several sub-Saharan African countries .

Gallup just released a survey conducted to assess the belief and the practice of male circumcision in this region.

The numbers:

Subsahara Africa poll on male circumcision

Bottom Line

Although improved levels of education about HIV/AIDS do not necessarily change behaviors, the likelihood of change without education is low. Therefore, investment in effective education programs about circumcision should be increased and designed in such a way that those with lower levels of education hear and understand the message: circumcision reduces the chance of being infected with HIV.