PRETORIA: Two initiates die, murder charge opened

The New Age Online
June 17, 2014

Two initiates lose lives

by France Nyaka
Two dockets of murder will be sent to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by police authorities following the deaths of initiates in the province.

Police said two boys, whose names have not been released, lost their lives a few days ago due to circumcision complications at an initiation school in Verena outside Kwaggafotein.

The school is allegedly headed by a female principal “surgeon” (known as ingcibi in the Nguni languages), even though women are traditionally barred from involvement in initiation schools.
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) in the province has called for urgent police investigation because “not a single woman has the authority to run an initiation school for men in the province”.

And while some sources have claimed that there have in fact been three initiation-related deaths in the province, police have denied this and said that only two boys lost their lives.
...

But sources told The New Age that the female school owner was granted authority to conduct circumcisions by the Mgibe-Mabena Traditional Authority, which is under the principal command of Ndebele monarch Makhosonke II.

The king’s spokesperson, prince Jimmy Mabena, referred all enquiries to the traditional authority’s chairperson, prince Daniel Mabena, who could not be reached for comment.

Last year, almost 30 Ndebele initiates died as a result of dehydration, excessive bleeding and botched circumcisions.

A few days ago, the NPA returned the dockets to the police and recommended that those involved be charged in the courts of their respective areas, such as KwaMhlanga, Middelburg, Verena and Belfast.

ZIMBABWE: Mass circumcised stalled by lack of funds

Newsday (Zimbabwe)
June 17, 2014

Lack of funding stalls circumcision programme

by Veneranda Langa
THE United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids) says lack of funding and medical personnel has stalled expansion of the Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) programme to rural areas.

This was disclosed in a 2013 UNAids report titled Matching Supply with Demand: Scaling Up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

The report said the shortage of doctors had caused the programme to miss its targets to circumcise some 1,3 million males aged between 13-29 years by 2015.

... The UN body also recommended intensive awareness campaigns to dispel existing misconceptions about the benefits of circumcision. [...such as the myth that there is any benefit...]

“Zimbabwe is a non-circumcising country and local norms around VMMC, such as a strong preference for VMMC during pre-adolescence, are not a hindrance to reaching the target population. Over 76% of the VMMCs in Zimbabwe are performed on males aged 15 to 49 years.

“Zimbabwe plans to dispel myths about circumcision through scaling up demand creation activities, particularly best practices such as partnerships with public figures and community organisations and leaders and through engaging women as both partners and mothers.” ["Demand creation" = propaganda, brainwashing]

OSLO, NORWAY: Parliament agrees to allow ritual circumcision in hospitals at public expense

Vårt land (Denmark) 14 June, 2014 Samlet ja til omskjæringslov Hele Stortinget ønsker lov om rituell omskjæring av gutter. Ingjerd Våge Etter flere år på høring og dragkamper i flere partier, får Norge nå en lov om rituell omskjæring av gutter. I går ble det kjent at hele helsekomiteen på Stortinget støtter regjeringens forslag til ny lov. – Gledelig. Årlig omskjæres omlag 2.000 guttebarn i Norge – de aller fleste av disse er muslimer. Inngrepene har i stor grad vært utført privat, men nå sikrer Storting at omskjæring blir en del av spesialisthelsetjenesten. Inngrepet kan dermed utføres på offentlig sykehus eller på private klinikker etter avtale med det offentlig. – Dette er meget gledelig, sier forstander i Det Mosaiske Trossamfund, Ervin Kohn og legger til: – Denne loven vil gjøre at Norge står frem som et lys blant nasjonene. Det har nærmest vært en kampanje mot omskjæring i Skandinavia, ledet an av Norge. Men det som nå skjer er at omskjæring blir regulert på en god måte. Negativ høring. Da saken var oppe til høring i stortingskomiteen var det kun organisasjoner som er negative til omskjæring som møtte. En av dem var Barneombudet. – Dersom vi hadde begynt med denne praksisen i dag, hadde vi da ment det var akseptabelt å skjære i friske guttebarns kjønnsorganer på et offentlig sykehus, spurte fagsjef hos Barneombudet, Camilla Kayed, den gang. Religiøs identitet. Stortinget har også vurdert på de etiske aspektene ved ritualet, men konkluderer med at omskjæring av guttebarn er «tett sammenvevd med majoriteten av jøders og muslimers religiøse identitet». De påpeker at rituell omskjæring er et vanlig inngrep i store deler av verden. Verdens helseorganisasjon anslår at rundt 30 prosent av alle menn på verdensbasis, i alderen 15 år og eldre, er omskåret. Egenbetaling. Helsekomiteen understreker at rituell omskjæring ikke kan defineres som nødvendig helsehjelp. Det skal derfor ikke fortrenge annen behandling i spesialisthelsetjenesten. I innstillingen er komiteen delt når det kommer til egenbetaling. ...

Bing translation June 13, 2014 Unanimous "Yes" to circumcision law The entire Parliament would like the law on ritual circumcision of boys. by Ingjerd Våge After several years at the hearing and tensions in several parties, Norway is now to get a law on the ritual circumcision of boys. Yesterday, it was announced that the entire Health Committee to the Norwegian Parliament supports the Government's proposal for a new law. "Gratifying" - About 2,000 male children are circumcised every year in Norway - the vast majority of these are Muslims. The intervention has largely been carried out in private, but now the Storting (Parliament) ensures that circumcision is a part of the specialist health service. The procedure can thus be carried out in public hospitals or in private clinics by appointment with the public. "This is very gratifying," said the head of the Jewish Religious Community, Ervin Kohn, and added: -This law will make Norway stand out as a light among the Nations. It has almost been a campaign against circumcision in Scandinavia, led by Norway. But what is now happening is that circumcision is regulated in a good way. Negative hearing. When the case was being heard in the Parliamentary Committee, only organizations that are negative to the circumcision came to the meeting. One of them was the Children's Ombudsman. -If we had started with this practice today, we had back then meant it was acceptable to cut into healthy boys' children's genitals in a public hospital, asked ... the Ombudsman, Camilla Kayed, at that time. Religious identity. The Parliament also considered on the ethical aspects of the ritual, but concludes that the circumcision of male children is "tightly interwoven with the majority of the turn and the Muslims ' religious identity." They point out that ritual circumcision is a common intervention in large parts of the world. The World Health Organization estimates that about 30 percent of all men on a worldwide basis, aged 15 years and older, are circumcised. Copayment. The Health Committee stressed that ritual circumcision cannot be defined as necessary health care. It should, therefore, not displace any other treatment by the specialist health service. In the setting is the Committee divided when it comes to the copayment. ...

VG 16.06.2014 Flertall i Stortinget for rituell omskjæring Stortinget sier mandag ja til rituell omskjæring av guttebarn. Men inngrepet skal kun utføres av offentlig helsepersonell. ... Også Senterpartiet, som tidligere har markert motstand mot omskjæring, har stilt seg bak vedtaket for å sørge for at inngrepet skjer i trygge former. Men partiet har samtidig fristilt sine medlemmer i saken, og tre av Sps stortingsrepresentanter, anført av Jenny Klinge, har kommet med et tilleggsforslag om at det fastsettes en nedre aldersgrense på 18 år. - Det som plager meg, er uviljen hos mange mot å diskutere om det er prinsipielt riktig skjære vekk friske kroppsdeler på småbarn, når ungen verken har mulighet til å samtykke eller nekte, sa Klinge da saken var til debatt i Stortinget mandag.

Bing translation June 16, 2014 Majority in the Storting for the ritual circumcision The Parliament says Yes to the ritual Monday, the circumcision of male children. But the procedure should only be performed by public health personnel. ... Also, the Center Party, who has previously highlighted opposition to circumcision, have lined up behind the decision to make sure that the procedure takes place in safe forms. But the party has at the same time free its members in the case, and three of the Sps parliamentary representatives, led by Jenny Klinge, has come with an additional proposal that it be determined a lower age limit of 18 years. -The thing that bothers me, is the uviljen with a lot of courage to discuss whether it is fundamentally the right cutting off healthy body parts of the young children, when your kid does not have the opportunity to consent or refuse, said Klinge when the case was to debate in Parliament on Monday.

JOHANNESBURG: Man seeks redress for botch

Daily Sun (South Africa)
June 11, 2014

Justice for my 4-5!

(June 11 2014) - He had the circumcision because his wife kept fighting with him to do it. But the operation was a mess, and now his wife is fighting with him because of his damaged penis.
NOT ONLY COULD HE LOSE HIS 4-5, BUT HIS WIFE HAS MOVED OUT OF THE HOUSE AS WELL.

The sad businessman (30) from Germiston, east of Joburg was perfectly happy with his sex life, but his pregnant wife wasn't. She said it would make sex for her much better if he went to the clinic to have a circumcision done.

But if he didn't do it, she said, he would be without a wife. In the end the man agreed, so he went to the Johannesburg Men's Clinic on 21 May. He paid R750 [$US 69.75] and went home the same day.
"I was not in any pain. I had a bandage wrapped around my penis and I couldn't see the cut," he said. But a few days later his wound became very painful and he took off the bandage.

"I could not believe my eyes," he said. "My foreskin had been cut off and it had been stitched back on again!" He immediately went back to the clinic but says they refused to give him the name of the doctor who did the operation. The man came to South Africa from Rwanda during the war in that country without being circumcised. "Last year I visited my family and they told me I had to be circumcised by a traditional healer. I ended up crying and telling my parents I was old and I was afraid things would go wrong," he said. "Then my wife started complaining. She said real men were circumcised." He said he couldn't sleep and he hadn't gone to work.

"My wife has taken our seven-year-old son and left the house. They are living in our other house in Vanderbijlpark," he said. "I am worried they may never come back."

The man is sleeping in the Wendy House outside so he doesn't disturb the other people in the house. "I have made peace with the fact that I may lose my penis. I am even prepared to fly to England to have it removed," he said. "But when I come back, that doctor will suffer." Clinic spokesman, Phumlani Dladla confirmed the doctor who did the operation made a mistake. It appears the patient had a lot of excess skin and the doctor didn't cut off enough.

Then he realised his mistake and cut off some more, but this time he cut off too much and sewed some skin back on again. He said the man may not have followed the doctor's instructions and that is why he ended up with a septic penis. [Yes, blame the victim.] "We have offered to do a second operation to rectify that," said Dladla. "We are willing to fix the problem if the man co-operates." "We know it will hurt but the problem will be fixed." The man has lodged a complaint against the doctor with the Health Professional Council of South Africa, which requested the name and practice number of the doctor.

FLORIDA: Medicaid circumcision funding resumed by stealth

WUSF News
May 29, 2014

Medicaid Overhaul Message Trickles Out

by Mary Shedden
Adriana DeJesus doesn't remember getting a letter.

Her kids - 6-year-old Angel, and son, Christian – have been covered by Medicaid plans since birth. Her son’s asthma and ADHD keep her regularly connected to his doctors and make her diligent about understanding his health coverage.

But the St.Petersburg daycare worker says she missed seeing a notice that Florida is moving 3.5 million residents in its medical insurance program for the poor to a new managed care system.
She stumbled onto the news only after she looked for a dentist for a daughter, and a counselor filled her in on the changes.

“I didn’t even know,” she said.

She’s not alone. For months, the Agency for Health Care Administration has been asking 1.5 million Floridians with fee-for-service Medicaid medical coverage to pick a plan from thirteen pre-approved insurers.
...

Sunshine Health, like others involved in the managed care transition, are not new to Medicaid, Senior said. But in order to attract more business, the new managed care plans offer more options for treatment and a longer list of health providers accepting patients with Medicaid coverage.
...

The list of added benefits includes options never available before in Florida’s Medicaid system. Certain vaccines, adult dental, hearing and vision, newborn circumcisions and nutrition counseling are among the benefits offered. Paterson said the extras can attract business, but more importantly, they promote better health.

[Florida Medicaid funded infant male genital cutting until July 1, 2003. A cohort of healthy 11-year-olds is ready to be testimony that cutting the taxpayer funding did no harm.]

“Many of us felt like we needed to add this extra enhancement to the program to be competitive,” he said. “And it is true though that some of these benefits that we are offering could lead to reduction (in illness), because they are more preventative in nature.”

SRI LANKA: 3-month-old dies during circumcision

Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
June 4, 2014

Infant dies during circumcision

A three-month-old infant has died allegedly due to haphazard circumcision carried out at a medical centre in Maligawatte yesterday, police said.

The 47-year- old doctor, who carried out the circumcision without safety procedures, was arrested by the Maligawatte Police. [It is unclear what "safety procedures" there might be.]

The parents of the victim Mohamed Hamdan, are residents of Meethotamulla in Wellampitiya. The suspect is to be produced before the Maligawatte magistrate today.

EASTERN CAPE: Circumcision deaths - 23 charged

The Herald Port Elizabeth News
June 3, 2014

NPA to prosecute 23 for circumcision deaths

by Allan Williams
Twenty-three people will be prosecuted for the deaths of young men during last year's initiation season in Mpumalanga, the NPA said on Tuesday (03/06/2014).

At least 30 boys died at seven initiation schools in Kwaggafontein, KwaMhlanga, Verena, Delmas, Siyabuswa, Belfast and Middelburg last year.

"The police acted swiftly by opening dockets and commenced with the investigations," National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Nathi Mncube said.

The 23 would face a range of charges.

"In separate trials, four medical doctors, 18 traditional circumcisers and one circumcision principal stand to be tried on 24 counts of culpable homicide, two counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and 12 counts of contravening… the Children's Act."

The act prohibits the circumcision of children below 16 and allows for the cirumcision of boys between 16 and 18 only in certain circumstances.

Inquests would be held in three of the deaths. - Sapa

Earlier story