One razor used to circumcise 15 boys
Participants at a recent HIV and Aids stakeholders conference in Harare were left shell-shocked when one of the presenters revealed that one razor blade was being used to circumcise about 15 people at initiation ceremonies in Shangani,Matebeland North.
Mr Timothy Ndunu of Sesithula Vamanani Caring, an HIV and Aids organisation, told participants that the Hlengwe people of Shangani had embarked on a “massive circumcision” drive in a bid to eradicate the prevalence of the disease in their community.
He said the drive had been packaged as initiation ceremonies and instead of curtailing the spread of HIV and Aids they were actually exposing people to danger because unhygienic methods were being used.
“These initiation ceremonies have become a grave concern in as far as eradicating the Aids scourge is concerned. They lack basic hygienic requirements and are also short of resources thereby exposing patients to a high risk of HIV infection.
“It is also at these ceremonies that boys and girls who might not necessarily be teenagers but are physically advanced are taught how to conduct themselves in bed, hence the children tend to begin experimenting at an early age,” he said.
Mr Ndunu said early marriages were becoming more prevalent and children in the community were prematurely leaving school.
“Besides the dangerous circumcision being done, there is also the dangerous practice of wife inheritance, which has not helped either,” he said.
“The Shangani people are in a very remote area. A lot of these issues that we are discussing here are not known back in Hlengwe village. In the instances that they get such information, it tends to fall on deaf ears.
“A lot of work needs to be done in this area in terms of conscientising these villagers because they tend to ignore information that is contrary to their traditional norms without regard to the consequences”, said Mr Ndunu.
“Many people in this community do not believe in the information that some organisations teach them because they have their own way of doing things that they are used to.
“However, our organisation has been working very hard with these people because they represent a time bomb that is waiting to explode,” Mr Ndunu said.
Male circumcision has been proved to be an efficacious, lasting and cost-effective strategy for combating HIV in high-prevalence countries but becomes dangerous when unsafe methods are employed. The revelations come at a time when the country is recording remarkable progress in the prevention of HIV infection.
Posted by Wellington Chadehumbe
on May 27, 2009. Filed under Health & Well Being.
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