Blantyre — The Ministry of Health (MoH) has expressed optimism that it will reach its target of circumcising 60,000 males across the country during the 30-day Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) campaign.
The campaign which targets men within the age bracket of 15-49 is being implemented in Blantyre and Thyolo but it is also going to be extended to four other districts namely Lilongwe, Mulanje, Nkhotakota and Phalombe.
MoH National Health Programme Officer, Amon Khata said the increase in sensitization campaigns on VMMC has led to high patronage of men in all the centres.
"So far we have started in Blantyre and Thyolo districts but in all centres a lot of men are coming forth seeking the service.
"If the trend continues to be like this in the remaining districts, I am optimistic that the campaign will register success of reaching its target of having 60,000 males circumcised," said Khata who is also the national VMMC Coordinator in an interview with the Malawi News Agency (Mana)
MoH has not encountered any serious challenges since the start of the campaign last week, according to Khata.
He therefore appealed to the general public, especially men to take advantage of the VMMC being done in their respective areas.
"We would like to ask faith based organisations, traditional leaders and others to encourage their followers to utilise the campaign so that no one should be left behind," appealed the VMMC Coordinator.
MoH, in conjunction with the Population Service International (PSI) launched the campaign on July 22, this year.
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Go ahead allafrica, spread perverse propaganda. Why don't you write that in Malawi circed men have more HIV infection rates than uncut population.
Malawian men are *more* likely to have HIV if they've been circumcised:
9.5% of intact Malawian men have HIV 13.2% of circumcised Malawian men have HIV
(figures from measuredhs dot com)
Other countries where circumcised men are *more* likely to be HIV+ include Cameroon, Ghana, Lesotho, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. That's at least seven African countries where men are more likely to be HIV+ if they've been circumcised, and yet they're promoting circumcision to prevent HIV. What will it take to stop this madness?
Europeans don't circumcise, South Americans don't circumcise, Australians and New Zealanders used to circumcise but stopped, most North Americans don't circumcise. Why should Africans circumcise?