Recently, Zambia has become more active in its fight to combat HIV and one way in which it is fighting the disease is through its men travelling long distances for circumcision procedures. According to the doctors at the Nangoma Mission Hospital, men undergo this unbearable pain from the surgery and the bike ride they have endure to get back home afterwards to protect themselves from the disease. HIV has the sixth highest infection rate in the world, with a rate of 13.5 percent – 200 Zambians are thought to be infected every day with HIV.
It is thought by some experts that circumcision can reduce the risk of infection in female to male activity by as much as 60 percent, in addition to clinics and surgeries distributing sterile needles and condoms to help lower these figures even more. The procedure means that the risk of a man developing the disease after contracting it from a HIV-positive woman is reduced by more than half. It is also fairly inexpensive which means than it is available to more people.
People in local villages and towns have been rigorously told of the benefits of this procedure, such as a 60 percent prevention, which is making it an appealing if painful choice for many. Health workers in the area are pushing the pros of circumcision such as how hygienic it is and the prevention of cervical cancer in women. Although there are other infections which can occur through people getting this treatment, health workers are still promoting it as a positive choice for men in Zambia. Interestingly, studies show that the procedure has no impact on the homosexual community, which is criminalised in Zambia. It is being pushed as a scientific treatment, rather than a holistic one – this is something health workers are keen to promote.
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