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.
