Circumcision: some men 'fear for their relationships'

By Violet Nabatanzi                       

KAMPALA - Some men are shunning circumcision because they fear their wives might run away from them, a health expert has said.

Ideally, most men who have just been circumcised are advised to keep off sex for as many as six weeks to allow the wound to heal.

But, according to Dr. Robert Ssooka, some complain that that period of time is too long.

Others fear that their spouses may lose interest in the relationship due to the absence of sex, or even cheat on them to satisfy their sexual needs.

A coordinator of safe male circumcision at Makerere University Joint AIDS Program (MJAP), Dr. Ssooka added that circumcised men’s fears don't stop at that. Some are uncomfortable with the idea of wearing skirts or more loose clothing after surgery due to the wounds.

He mentioned this during safe male circumcision (SMC) exercises held at Kansanga Miracle Center, YMCA and Reach Out Mbuya that had over 100 males circumcised.

SMC is a scientifically proven biomedical intervention for prevention of female-to-male transmission of HIV.

The World Health Organization and the United Nations Program on HIV/ AIDS recommend SMC for countries with a high prevalence of HIV and low prevalence of male circumcision.

Ssooka said MJAP started implementing safe male circumcision in 2010 with funding from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Since January this year to May, he said, they have circumcised about 2,800 males. "This number is not enough; Our target is to circumcise at least 7,000 before this year ends.”

The cost of circumcision in private hospitals is between sh70, 000 to sh100,000.

According to Barbra Nanteza who is the National Safe Male Circumcision in the ministry of health, currently, some 2.1 million men have undergone circumcision in the last five years and out of this, five of them died of Tetanus.

Nanteza said those who died applied herbal medicine after circumcision and in the process contracted Tetanus.

Rachael Kentenyingi, the public relations officer MJAP, appealed to women to allow their husbands be circumcised because it helps to prevent some diseases.

Moses Kintu, a 23-year-old who had just undergone surgery, said he did not feel any pain during the operation and urged all young boys to get circumcised.