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Rwanda: Government Readies for Mass Male Circumcision
New Times (Kigali) ^ | 19 September 2007 | Edwin Musoni

Posted on 09/20/2007 2:31:21 PM PDT by Lorianne

The government has at last officially supported male circumcision as a tool to fight against HIV/Aids. But the acknowledgement comes with a call for maximum caution from the health ministry.

As such, the government says it is about to start mass male circumcision as a way of reducing the spread of HIV/Aids and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended male circumcision as a tool for reducing risks of acquiring f HIV/Aids virus. It said circumcised men have around 60 percent-risk free chances of not acquiring the virus during sexual intercourse.

The Health ministry says that Rwanda has adopted male circumcision as one of the preventive measures against the disease.

The State Minister for HIV/Aids and other Infectitious Diseases, Dr Innocent Nyaruhirira, has urged Rwandan men to start going for circumcision at recommended medical centers where there are qualified medical personnel.

"The entire exercise would lose meaning if done unethically by just anyone because the intended goal would be missed since it would give rise to other problems resulting from complications," Nyaruhirira said.

He said that the Health ministry is currently in the process of upgrading and availing relevant equipment in hospitals and health centers to enable the operation.

A document from the ministry states that mass circumcision would kick off with the army, police and students from higher institutions of learning.

However, Dr Nyaruhirira warned that circumcision does not provide a "green light for promiscuity because it does not guarantee 100% prevention of the virus."

"Let no one understand that once circumcised, men can go ahead and indulge in unprotected sex because circumcision only protects you from HIV/AIDS by 60 percent.

There is a big risk of 40 percent," he cautioned.

The Director of the Aids Treatment and Research Center (TRAC) Anita Asiimwe said that circumcision had been proved several researches in Africa as a strategy for reducing HIV/Aids prevalence rate.

Last year, three groundbreaking studies conducted in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa found that male circumcision reduces a man's risk of being infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

"Male circumcision has been proven to be one of the ways through which Aids transmission can be prevented. Males who are not circumcised are more vulnerable to the virus than those who are circumcised," she said.

She said that the reason why a circumcised male may not contract Aids mainly lies in the absence of the foreskin. "The foreskin harbors and nurtures many organisms including the Aids virus, which eventually enter the bloodstream.

"The same organisms will not survive on a circumcised male because they are exposed and lack the fovourable conditions from which to launch their entry into the body," Asiimwe said.

For an uncircumcised man, she observed, the foreskin peels away during sexual intercourse, leaving a tender muscle that is quite susceptible to ulceration, hence the easy transmission of the Aids virus if the partner is positive.

"A circumcised male, due to exposure, is unlikely to get any ulceration during intercourse because his skin is relatively hardened," she said, adding that male circumcision has more advantages than just the prevention of HIV/Aids and other STDs.

MPs back move

"Male circumcision will not only protect the man but also the woman.

The organisms harboured in the foreskin of an uncircumcised male can easily be passed on to the woman during intercourse and this is the main origin of cervical cancer," Dr Asiimwe noted.

Meanwhile Members of Parliament have pledged their support to the government's decision of mass circumcision.

Deputy Ezekias Rwabuhihi, a former Health minister, said: "male circumcision is a practice that we have to embrace.

However it must be properly and carefully conducted."

"If the research on male circumcision is correct as WHO said, then we have to give full support to the implementation of this policy," Senator Aloysia Inyumba observed.

The WHO has repeatedly called on policymakers to consider using male circumcision to contain the Aids pandemic.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: africa; hivaids
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1 posted on 09/20/2007 2:31:24 PM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

...???..paws don'tz fails me now

2 posted on 09/20/2007 2:33:05 PM PDT by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated)
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To: Lorianne

Bahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!


3 posted on 09/20/2007 2:33:09 PM PDT by PeterFinn (Do not wish ill for your enemies, plan it.)
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To: Lorianne
Oh s—t! Here comes a whole nation’s worth of uncircumcised men... refugees of the first order if ever there were some.
4 posted on 09/20/2007 2:35:17 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Sorry Hillderella, but the Hsu fits... and king Lerach would like a call. < wicked witch laughter >)
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To: Lorianne

Remind me not to buy any Rwandan leather.


5 posted on 09/20/2007 2:36:43 PM PDT by sigSEGV
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To: sigSEGV

How many prepuces does it take to make a pair of gloves?


6 posted on 09/20/2007 2:39:59 PM PDT by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)
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To: sigSEGV
Remind me not to buy any Rwandan leather.

Why not? You pay, like, 10 bucks for a wallet, rub it, and get a suitcase.

7 posted on 09/20/2007 2:40:19 PM PDT by Freedom_no_exceptions (No actual, intended, or imminent victim = no crime. No exceptions.)
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To: Lorianne

“The Health ministry says that Rwanda has adopted male circumcision as one of the preventive measures against the disease.” .................. There better be more than “one” preventive measure! This won’t stop the AIDS anymore than it did here.


8 posted on 09/20/2007 2:40:52 PM PDT by Bringbackthedraft
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To: Lorianne
Well, I guess it's a better use for a machete than chopping off the heads of hundreds of thousands of members of the other tribe in 1994 that Rawanda is better known for.
9 posted on 09/20/2007 2:40:59 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (May the heirs of Charles Martel and Jan Sobieski rise up again to defend Europe.)
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To: Lorianne

10 posted on 09/20/2007 2:41:35 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Lorianne

I would think that the people of Rwanda would get a little nervous when other people start talking about cutting body parts


11 posted on 09/20/2007 2:42:10 PM PDT by ExSafecracker (Press 1 for english. . .2 for jibberish.)
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To: Lorianne

I know a guy who has a used bottle cap screwing on machine.


12 posted on 09/20/2007 2:45:33 PM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: Lorianne
"Round 'em up!"
13 posted on 09/20/2007 2:45:55 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Mitt bit the apple. Hillary will stuff it down your throat!)
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To: Lorianne

Come on guys.

Could this be true?


14 posted on 09/20/2007 2:46:40 PM PDT by Fishtalk (http://patfish.blogspot.com)
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To: Lorianne

The pay is lousy, but the tips are big.


15 posted on 09/20/2007 2:47:25 PM PDT by bruin66 (Time: Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once.)
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To: Lorianne

Somebody tipped them off...


16 posted on 09/20/2007 2:48:08 PM PDT by null and void (<---- Awake and filled with a terrible resolve...)
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To: Lorianne

HillaryCare!


17 posted on 09/20/2007 2:49:30 PM PDT by toddlintown (Five bullets and Lennon goes down. Yet not one hit Yoko. Discuss.)
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To: Freedom_no_exceptions

“Why not? You pay, like, 10 bucks for a wallet, rub it, and get a suitcase.”

LOL!!!! Best gut laugh of the week!!!!


18 posted on 09/20/2007 2:50:55 PM PDT by EEDUDE
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To: sigSEGV
Remind me not to buy any Rwandan leather.

I'd also avoid Rwandan calamari.

19 posted on 09/20/2007 2:51:16 PM PDT by BearCub
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To: Lorianne

Bet they’we going to get a lot of tips.


20 posted on 09/20/2007 2:54:21 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (Take the wheel, Fred.)
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