Manto rejects

WHO guidelines Circumcision is a cultural practice and should not be used as a preventative measure in the fight against HIV-AIDS, South African health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said yesterday.

Her statements fly in the face of a March 2007 declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommending that circumcision should form an important part of HIV prevention programmes. The WHO endorsement of circumcision as a preventative measure followed two major studies that found that circumcision reduced the risk of contracting HIV by between 50 per cent and 60 per in men.Addressing traditional healers in Polokwane, the minister said the WHO’s view that male circumcision should be used as a prevention measure in the fight against HIV-AIDS should be interrogated.The health department said it believed this view was “incorrect and misleading”.It had therefore sought to discuss the matter with traditional leaders to “inform and enlighten all concerned.”Tshabalala-Msimang told traditional leaders and healers that cultural practices should not be used for “purposes other than those for which they [were] meant for at the beginning”, her department said in a statement.Nampa- Sapa/Health24The WHO endorsement of circumcision as a preventative measure followed two major studies that found that circumcision reduced the risk of contracting HIV by between 50 per cent and 60 per in men.Addressing traditional healers in Polokwane, the minister said the WHO’s view that male circumcision should be used as a prevention measure in the fight against HIV-AIDS should be interrogated.The health department said it believed this view was “incorrect and misleading”.It had therefore sought to discuss the matter with traditional leaders to “inform and enlighten all concerned.”Tshabalala-Msimang told traditional leaders and healers that cultural practices should not be used for “purposes other than those for which they [were] meant for at the beginning”, her department said in a statement.Nampa- Sapa/Health24