ZAMBIA: Circumciised man with HIV misses the point

The Post (Zambia)
October 23, 2014

Circumcised activist with HIV cautions men

by Fridah Nkonde
A 56-YEAR-OLD activist says he contracted HIV despite having been circumcised since birth.

Supporting musician Danny Siulapwa's statement that some young men are rushing to get circumcised for the wrong reasons, Danny Lungu said being circumcised does not exempt one from contracting HIV.
[The question arises whether it has any effect whatsoever.]

"You can contract HIV and AIDS even if you are circumcised. Here I am, I was circumcised when I was a baby but I am living with the virus. I contracted HIV when I was 25 years old.

The information I had that 'when you are circumcised, you cannot contract HIV' misled me," he said. "I used to womanise in the 1990s but I got infected and I came to learn that whether you are circumcised or not, you can still contract HIV."
[So one of the reasons he got HIV was that he was circumcised....]

Lungu, who is married with five children who are all free of the virus, has been living with HIV for the past 24 years and has been on antiretroviral treatment for 14 years.

"My advice to young people is that being circumcised does not give them a passport to sleep around because they can still contract HIV. If you are not circumcised, get circumcised and then continue using condoms," he advised. "There is information on HIV and circumcision everywhere now. In the 90s, we had no such information on issues of HIV and circumcision. I think that somehow contributed to me contracting the virus."

He said circumcision only reduces one's chances of contracting HIV and that it is not a preventive measure.

"It is not automatic that when you are circumcised, you cannot contract HIV. Young ones should go for circumcision and have safe sex by always using condoms or abstaining. We still need the new generation," said Lungu.

Danny observed that some men think they cannot contract HIV once they get circumcised.

ZAMBIA: Cut men think they don't need condoms

October 19, 2014

Young men are getting circumcised for wrong reasons - Danny

by Abigail Sitenge
Danny Siulapwa, also known as Danny Kaya, says young men are rushing to get circumcised for wrong reasons.

Danny, a father of three, observed that most men think they cannot contract HIV once they get circumcised.

“I’m an open person hence I talk to many young people who tell me they don’t need to use condoms during sexual intercourse because they are circumcised. But that’s very wrong. I think there is need to sensentise people more on this issue,” he says.

Danny wonders what type of message is being put across regarding circumcision. He urges young men to avoid practicing unprotected sex regardless of whether they are circumcised or not.

A few years ago, Danny who is deemed a controversial artiste in Zambia, released a hit song called Live which advocates the use of condoms.

He says because of such perceptions, the number of people being infected with the virus has kept on rising.

He has since called on people spearheading male circumcision campaigns to emphasise the fact that the practice did not obliterate the chances of contracting HIV but merely reduced them.

“Personally I’m not liking the way the anti-HIV campaigns are being done, suddenly there is this hype of male circumcision. It is a good practice but what is ringing in most young people’s minds is that once they are circumcised, they cannot contract HIV,” he says. ...

ZAMBIA: Men are not buying mass-circumcision

UK Zambians
June 2, 2012

80% target set for male circumcision

The American government with its cooperating partners in the eastern and southern African regions hopes to reach about 80 % of males aged 15 to 49 with medical male circumcision in the next five years.

QFM NEWS reports that US ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella says this could prevent up to 3.4 million new infections in the region. [The figure is ex recto.]
 
Ambassador Storella says his government has been supporting Zambia in implementing the male circumcision programmes because they have proved to be effective in the prevention of HIV infections. [And it seems the US Government has been telling its ambassadors to push circumcision.]
 
The diplomat notes that the rate of men accessing the male circumcision has continued to be low saying there is need for the male circumcision awareness programmes to be scaled up.

Ambassador Storella was speaking at a meeting on medical male circumcision held for traditional leaders in Lusaka this morning.

Earlier story

BOTSWANA, LESOTHO, SWAZILAND, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE: Men resising circumcision

News Medical
May 14, 2012

National program in Botswana focuses on increasing male circumcision rate

Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all have launched national campaigns urging men to undergo circumcision to help reduce their risk of contracting or transmitting HIV infection, but "all the countries are lagging far behind their targets," Agence France-Presse reports in an article focusing on efforts in Botswana. A three-year-old campaign in Botswana, aimed at convincing 460,000 men to get circumcised, "has reached only seven percent of this figure," the news agency notes, adding, "Now the government has enlisted the help of top musicians and launched a new series of advertisements touting 'safe male circumcision' as a lifeline."

According to AFP, "Botswana has no tradition of circumcision, giving the government a tough sales pitch -- even for a procedure done with local anesthetic, taking only a few minutes and requiring only a few days recovery." The news service notes most men say they fear the pain of the procedure, that the recovery time will be long, and how it will affect their sex lives.