No circumcision for us – Nsanje men say

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Circumcision

Health authorities at Nsanje District Health Office have admitted that the district is not faring well in as far as the provision of Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision (VMMC) is concerned as many men are shunning it.

It was disclosed during the District Aids Coordinating Committee (DACC) meeting held on Monday, March 13 that Nsanje District Hospital receives only one person per week who want to access voluntary male medical circumcision services.

Nsanje District Health Office’s Coordinator for VMMC Alinafe Buleya attributed the slow progress of the exercise to inadequate test kits and long distances people take to travel to access the medical circumcision at the district hospital.

Circumcision
Nsanje men deny circumcision. (Image credit: Daily Monitor)

Buleya said sometimes the hospital sends the clients back home owing to problems of equipment used for the operation.

“We send back home those people who visit our facility alone to access medical circumcision. We do this because we fear that these clients more especially those who come alone, might develop some complications as they go back home after the services,” said Mrs Buleya.

Meanwhile, over 13,000 people from three districts including Nsanje are expected to undergo male medical circumcision thanks to Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynaecology and Obstetrics (JHPIEGO) which has rolled out a one year program aimed at providing free male medical circumcision.

According to Acting Chief of Party in the organization, Mrs Pamela Msukwa, all services will be provided using outreach areas in order to allow more take part in the exercise.

Msukwa said apart from Nsanje, the exercise which she said will be rolled out with funding from World Bank, is also being implemented in Ntcheu and Mwanza.

Research, however, previously revealed that there is not conclusive evidence to support claims that male circumcision reduces HIV infection.

In our previous investigation, we also found that males who undergo circumcision are likely to get infection than their uncircumcised counterparts.

For more on circumcision, read the following articles posted previously on Malawi24:

For more on circumcision, read the following articles:

  1. https://malawi24.com/2015/08/04/circumcision-disaster-malawi-hiv-infection-rate-doubles/
  2.  https://malawi24.com/2015/07/25/malawian-circumcised-men-most-likely-to-be-infected-by-hiv-research-shows/