'Non-surgical' circumcision starts next month

By John Agaba

A male circumcision procedure which does not involve surgery and is considered to be bloodless is to be implemented starting next month.

Health experts are positive the new circumcision method, dubbed PrePex, will positively compliment the ‘traditional’  surgical method, as the country ups the ante in safe male circumcision (SMC) to avert HIV incidences.

In 2007, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended SMC as one of the interventions in the fight against HIV, after trials in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa showed it reduces the risk of female-to-male sexual transmission of the virus by about 60%.

Dr. Barbara Nanteza, the national SMC Coordinator at the health ministry, said the new method will be implemented starting Mid-February, with an initial target of circumcising 10,000 men.

One thousand men, she said, will be circumcised under close supervision. The rest, 9000, will be circumcised under passive supervision. “And depending on the demand, we shall roll-out the program,”said Nanteza.