Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
19 June 2009
The Tuesday workshop whose purpose was to find new directions in the fight against HIV/AIDS heard experts deliver papers on the "latest fashionable strategy", male circumcision or 'MC', as it was referred to during discussions.
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Circumcision is a dangerous distraction in the fight against AIDS. There are seven African countries where men are more likely to be HIV+ if they've been circumcised: Rwanda, Cameroon, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, and Tanzania. Eg in Malawi, the HIV rate is 13.2% among circumcised men, but only 9.5% among intact men. In Cameroon, the HIV rate is 4.1% among circumcised men, but only 1.1% among intact men. If circumcision really worked against AIDS, this just wouldn't happen. We now have people calling circumcision a "vaccine" or "invisible condom", and viewing circumcision as an alternative to condoms.
ABC (Abstinence, Being faithful, Condoms) is the way forward. Promoting genital surgery will cost African lives, not save them.