The US Ambassador, Scott DeLisi will officially launch the Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) programme at Makerere University Hospital on Dec.11.
The service has been made possible by the Makerere University Joint AIDS Programme (MJAP) with technical assistance from the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and support from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The Makerere University Hospital was identified by MJAP as a strategic SMC partner to reach out to the Makerere University community.
The Safe Male Circumcision programme in Uganda was launched in September 2010 and is targeting 80% of uncircumcised men - about 4.2 million men - by 2015.
According to the Uganda Aids Commission's (UAC) annual performance review of the national HIV and Aids strategic plan (2011-12), 380,000 men were circumcised by March 2012 under the programme.
Just over one-quarter of Ugandan men are circumcised, but PEPFAR and UNAids together project that circumcising 4.2 million Ugandan men could halve the country's HIV incidence.
The Uganda government says it hopes to circumcise one million men each year for the next three years but the programme has encountered scaling-up challenges and at times stiff opposition from influential politicians such as President Museveni.
Civil society activists say there is a need for the country's political leaders to unify their message on male circumcision, otherwise they risk confusing the public about the government's position.
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"Safe" male circumcision does not exist. Research shows that circumcision causes physical, sexual, and psychological harm. This harm is ignored by circumcision advocates. Many professionals have criticized the studies claiming that circumcision reduces HIV transmission. They have various flaws. The absolute rate of HIV transmission reduction is only 1.3%, not the claimed 60%. Authorities that cite the studies have other agendas including political and financial. Other methods to prevent HIV transmission (e.g., condoms and sterilizing medical instruments) are much more effective, much cheaper, and much less invasive.
From a USAID report: "There appears no clear pattern of association between male circumcision and HIV prevalence—in 8 of 18 countries with data, HIV prevalence is lower among circumcised men, while in the remaining 10 countries it is higher." http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/CR22/CR22.pdf
It seems highly unrealistic to expect that there will be no risk compensation. The South African National Communication Survey on HIV/AIDS, 2009 found that 15% of adults across age groups "believe that circumcised men do not need to use condoms". http://www.info.gov.za/issues/hiv/survey_2009.htm
It is unclear if circumcised men are more likely to infect women. The only ever randomized controlled trial into male-to-female transmission showed a 54% higher rate in the group where the men had been circumcised: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60998-3/a bstract
ABC (Abstinence, Being faithful, and especially Condoms) is the way forward. Promoting genital surgery seems likely to cost African lives rather than save them.
In the real world natural penis men get HIV at the same rate as men that have had parts of their penis cut off and parts of their sensory system shut down. No one should force this, we must not pay for this and we must not "urge" this.