Malawi Ministry of Health fighting Partial Male Circumcision

Malawi Ministry of Health fighting Partial Male Circumcision

The Ministry of Health in Malawi has began a new battle fighting ‘Partial’ circumcision which is mostly common among men that undergo Traditional Male Circumcision frequently done in initiation ceremonies.

Traditional male circumcision in Malawi is frequent in Southern and Eastern part of the country among Yao ethnic men who many of them are Muslims. And both Yao tradition and Muslim men are required to undergo male circumcision, which in Malawi is done at a traditional ceremony called Jando where young boys aged between 7 years to 10 years are circumcised using laser blades and knife.

Since October 2011 when the campaign of Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) was launched, the ministry has received and recorded a highest number of partial circumcision cases from men who were circumcised at an initiation ceremony.

According to Public Relations Officer in the Ministry Mr. Henry Chimbali, apart from disseminating information of encouraging men to get circumcised, the Ministry upon observing the magnitude of this problem has embarked on another campaign encouraging men who were traditionally circumcised to visit medical facilities to verify if the circumcision is same as the one being offered in hospitals.

Chimbali added that leaders in initiation ceremonies are also being encouraged to refer to hospital boys in initiation camps for MMC as a way of encouraging proper circumcision.

He however said the new campaign does not discrediting traditional MC.

He confirmed that through the campaign a lot of men who got tradition circumcision are visiting facilities that are offering MMC to verify if their circumcision was properly done. And once found they had partial circumcision they are being circumcised properly.

“We are aware that there are more men that were circumcised traditionally, our traditions and our religions sometimes demand all men to undergo circumcision,” said Chimbali and confirmed that, very often from such traditional circumcision a lot of men are “partially done according to the data that we have.”

He said partial circumcision may not be effective in reducing risks of contracting HIV as compared to full circumcision being done in medical facilities saying “Obviously if they have been traditionally circumcised and that circumcision is not the same as the one we are offering in the facilities then, the benefits that are associated with male circumcision are not exactly as ones that may be associated with tradition MC.  And this is why we are encouraging them that this traditional MC may not protect them or reduce the risk of acquiring HIV and other benefits,”

He said a lot of men who had traditional circumcision are starting to appreciate the importance of this verification campaign because the ministry is trying to disseminate information on disadvantages of partial circumcision in terms of benefits that proper circumcision may offer them.

Chimbali also said MMC campaign is registering tremendous progress as currently 160,000 men have been circumcised for a period of 3 years in 7 districts.

He said the ministry projects that 1.8 million adult males aged between 10 to 35 years would undergo MMC by 2020. He added that the ministry is planning to scale up the MMC campaign in other districts by 2015 when World Bank funds are made available.