Swaziland: 'Ambitious' target for male circumcision funded by US and Bill Gates

Submitted by anthony on Tue, 2009-10-06 20:25

Story here. Excerpt:

'MBABANE, 5 October 2009 (PlusNews) - Swaziland's Ministry of Health and Human Services aims to provide circumcision to 80 percent of men aged 15 to 24 in the next five years, in response to the surging number of men requesting the procedure to reduce their risk of HIV.
...
Health officials are now encouraging the renewed popularity of male circumcision by devoting publicity and resources to making it more easily available. Around 1,000 men have already been circumcised at the Litsemba Letfu (SiSwati for "our hope") Male Clinic in Matsapha, halfway between the capital, Mbabane, and the central commercial hub of Manzini.

The project is funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and is the first medical facility specifically for men.'

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Comments

The FIRST medical facility specifically for men...that is specifically for male genital mutilation.

Yep. Right up there with "fatherhood initiatives" that emphasize child support enforcement, "men's groups" dedicated to better serving women, "Men's Studies" courses to free men from the toxin of masculinity ...etc....barf!...etc....

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Submitted by Hunchback on Wed, 2009-10-07 02:15

What's wrong with it if the guy wants to be circumcised?
-ax

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Submitted by axolotl on Wed, 2009-10-07 02:48

that Bill Gates is "cut" down there!

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Submitted by Luek on Wed, 2009-10-07 02:51

The only problem I have is the government promoting circumcision. The US and Bill Gates should keep their nose out of private matters. I wonder if this male clinic also treats heart disease and cancer?

As far as I'm concerned, the issue of male circumcision has a pretty simple solution. Let the boy decide when he's eighteen while eliminating government programs which endorse the practice.

Amputation is the last resort when preventing illness.

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Submitted by anthony on Wed, 2009-10-07 03:31

I couldn't tell if they were promoting or just 'suggesting'.

I'm not sure about the 18 thing. Lots of guys start having sex earlier. And it would probably depend on the culture too.

-ax

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Submitted by axolotl on Wed, 2009-10-07 08:38

The connection between spreading HIV, other STDs, and circumcision has not been proven--things that may benefit women don't have to be--unlike, say, the harm of papa-dectomies.

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Submitted by Hunchback on Wed, 2009-10-07 11:36

nothing except I doubt these circumcisers are informing these men, fairly, about the research on the foreskin and sensitivity, and how circumcision removes the most sensitive part of the penis.
http://www.livescience.com/health/070615_penis_sensitivity.html
http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/bju_6685.pdf

Yang DM, Lin H, Zhang B, Guo W. [Circumcision affects glans penis vibration perception threshold]. Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue 2008; 14: 328-30, Dept. of Urology, the First Hospital Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou,Guangdong 510120, China.

And I personally don't believe our tax dollars should be spent on circumcision rather than condoms and education which I think is far more effective and less costly.

Dr. Dean Edell called the African/HIV conclusions "silly" and warned, "it will backfire." He recognized the gender double standards, the loss of sensation in the penis, how condoms and education are the solution, and how the U.S. has the highest rate of circumcision in the West and also the highest rate of HIV while European men don't circumcise and have lower HIV rates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlsUg0sdAtE

In fact, there is research showing female circumcision also reduces the changes of contracting HIV. Stallings, R. Y., and E. Karugendo. “Female Circumcision and HIV
Infection in Tanzania: For Better or for Worse?” Abstract of paper given at Third International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment. Rio de Janeiro, July 25–27, 2005.

The male foreskin is gynecologically equivalent to the removal of the clitoral hood, one of three forms of female circumcision all of which are forbidden by law. See Darby, R. and Svoboda, J. S., ‘A rose by any other name?; rethinking the similarities and differences between male and female genital cutting,’ Medical Anthropology Quarterly (2007), Vol. 21, Issue 3, pp. 301-323.

So why aren't we funding certain equivalent forms of female circumcision in Africa?

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Submitted by Marc A. on Wed, 2009-10-07 16:56

that someday the truth about male genital mutilation
surfaces, and all those men sued $$$Gates for big bucks,
and the world's richest man became one of the poorest.
remember the movie "the jerk"? one of my favorites.

btw - when i looked up the word mutilation (sp), guess what
term came up #1, yep, female genital mutilation. this whole
society is feminist based, it's everywhere. it permeates this
society like skunk smell. and it doesn't wear off so easily.

stinks up the whole mess. don't drink the water guys.

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Submitted by daveinga on Wed, 2009-10-07 21:56

Part of the psychology no doubt has to do with the 'lab rats'/disposability attitude toward men. Line 'em up and cut 'em.

-ax

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Submitted by axolotl on Wed, 2009-10-07 23:44