WHAT AN IMPORTANT THING!

Controversial UN program brings circumcision device to Zimbabwe
By A Correspondent

Published: April 17, 2012

Comment

A highly controversial United Nations program has seen the introduction of a special bloodless device to be used for the purpose of male circumcision in Zimbabwe.

PrePlex, a device that induces bloodless surgical operation is to be introduced in the country shortly. It also does not require the use of an anaesthetic injection as the process is virtually painless according to reports.

In a joint statement, the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Research Project (Zichire) said they are looking for men aged 18 years and above, who are willing to participate in this study.

Candidates should be willing to test for HIV and be able to go for repeated post procedure visits for two months, they added.

The circumcision process will take place at Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) Spilhaus Male Circumcision clinic adjacent to the Harare Hospital.

The national circumcision policy was launched three years ago in Zimbabwe.

The FDA approved PrePex just a few weeks ago. It was invented in 2009 by four Israelis, one a urologist who heard the plea for surgeons in Africa. Out of all similar devices, PrePex is so far the quickest, least bloody and least painful, said World Health Organisation.

Zimbabwe launched a massive circumcision campaign in 2009 targeting at least 1.2 million men by 2015 in a bid to stem the rise in new HIV infections across the country.

The government has targeted to circumcise 120,000 males by year end.

But the United Nations program has attracted much controversy as many western doctors blasted it as a mere US initiative meant to further American culture in Africa. One doctor told ZimEye that: circumcision is actually a dangerous because it induces promiscuous behaviour while giving a false sense security that an individual will not be infected afterwards.

If circumcision truly helped prevent HIV, then circumcised men would not need to worry about other methods of HIV prevention. The false sense of security that circumcision provides could increase the incidence of HIV. Already reports are coming out from Africa about men who think they cannot get HIV because they have been circumcised. One Reuters story reports the comments of young men in Africa undergoing circumcision. “”All I know
is that when I am circumcised, it will not be as easy for me to get infected with HIV/AIDS,” said one young man, Kizeja Michael, as he lined up for the operation. “People who are circumcised are not able to get AIDS,” said his friend, Peter Kibatsi.

It is ill advised for circumcision to be championed for large numbers of men when 98.15% of the men in the African studies’ control group who were not circumcised did NOT contract HIV after 24 months. Circumcision did nothing to protect the 22 circumcised men who acquired HIV in the Rakai, Uganda study. In addition, researchers made no attempt to determine the HIV status of the female partners of the men in these studies, a glaring omission that negates the findings.

An intact (not circumcised) male who does not engage in risky sexual behavior is far less likely to acquire HIV/AIDS than a circumcised male who engages in risky sexual behavior.
Behavior is the key component in preventing HIV, not circumcision.

The United States has a long history and experience with circumcising millions of men in the past century under hygienic medical conditions. This has NOT prevented circumcised males from acquiring HIV. Instead, the United States has one of the highest rates of HIV in the developed world, despite the fact that male circumcision in the U.S. has been widespread here. This is in contrast to Europe and other locations around the world where male circumcision is rare and HIV rates are relatively low.”