News
Govt to roll out male cut campaign
Posted Tuesday, November 3 2009 at 13:37
In Summary
- There are 1.2 million uncircumcised males between the ages of 15 and 49 in the country, according to a survey.
The government is set to roll out an aggressive male circumcision campaign in Nyanza province targeting 30,000 males in a month.
The Director of Public Health in Nyanza Province Dr Jackson Kioko said that the drive Rapid results initiative for voluntary medical male circumcision will be undertaken not only in health facilities but also selected outreach facilities such as schools across the province.
Dr Kioko said that the initiative that runs from November 9 to December 20 is geared towards ensuring that the annual targets are met within the set time without injecting additional resources.
“This will be a period of accelerated activities to circumcise as many males as possible,” he told the press at a media briefing in a Kisumu hotel Tuesday.
Voluntary male circumcision was adopted by the government as a strategy for prevention and control of HIV and Aids.
The programme that was launched by Prime Minister Raila Odinga intends to circumcise 80 per cent of uncircumcised males in the province, which is estimated at 520,000 individuals, by 2013.
According to the Kenya Aids Indicator Survey of 2007, there are 1.2 million uncircumcised males between the ages of 15 and 49 in the country.
Dr Kioko said that for the male circumcision programme to have a public health impact in prevention and control of HIV and Aids, at least 1.1 million of these males had to be circumcised countrywide, 520,000 out of whom are in Nyanza Province.
Dr Kioko added that medical personnel who are on leave or off duty will be roped in to carry out the drive.
The male circumcision strategy was launched last year by the government in Nyanza Province which not only had high prevalence rates for the scourge but also had a huge proportion of uncircumcised males.
The prevalence of the disease in the province stands at between three and 49 per cent in different areas with an average of 14.9 per cent. The national average is seven per cent.
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Submitted by TLCTuggerPosted November 03, 2009 11:46 PM
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Submitted by ml66uk
Promoting genital surgery will cost African lives, not save them. There are six African countries where men are more likely to be HIV+ if they've been circumcised: Cameroon, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, and Swaziland. Eg in Malawi, the HIV rate is 13.2% among circumcised men, but only 9.5% among intact men. If circumcision really worked against AIDS, this just wouldn't happen. The one study into male-to-female transmission showed a 50% higher rate in the group where the men had been circumcised. ABC (Abstinence, Being faithful, Condoms) is the way forward.
Posted November 03, 2009 04:42 PM -
Submitted by wuod_aketch
No scientific proof that this works and no such campaign has been undertaken in the developed world. The government is doing this out of malice? I doubt whether Raila whose name has been mentioned here is cautioning this campaign. This is the most stupid move I have ever seen. In the contrary this will fan the propagation of AIDS. People being convinced that they become invincible after circumcision. Put more funds in education and information instead of mutilating the young generation.
Posted November 03, 2009 02:33 PM
RSS
This is so sad and misguided. Most of the US men who have died of AIDS were circumcised at birth. US adults are presently 80% circumcised and the yet the US with its universal education and high health care spending has an HIV incidence three times as high as Europe's, even though circumcision is rare in Europe. AIDS is just as rare in non-cutting Sweden as it is in 97%-cut Israel. Access to condoms and safe-sex education are still the best way to thwart AIDS.