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Measures in place to ensure safe circumcisions - Newsroom - 18-03-2014
Mbombela - The Mpumalanga Department of Health has assured the public that all precautions have been taken to prevent fatalities in the upcoming traditional circumcision season.
Last year, 31 initiates died. Traditional circumcisions in the province take place between May and July every year.
“We have put in place measures to ensure that this year’s circumcisions are as safe as possible,†said department spokesman Ronnie Masilela, adding that if the measures are adhered to, there should be no deaths.
Masilela said that processes would include the screening and clearing of all initiates before undergoing operations, and the proper registration of initiation sites.
“Our medical practitioners will be visiting all the sites, and traditional initiation schools need to be registered. Traditional surgeons are also being properly trained by the department,†he said.
He added that the department still promoted Voluntary Male Medical Circumcisions (VMMCs) at registered healthcare sites as the safest way to prevent botched operations.
The department carried out 100 239 VMMCs at 10 hospitals and three community health centres during the 2013/14 financial year, out of a targeted 500 000.
“Circumcision is still a doctor-driven procedure and Mpumalanga has a shortage of doctors as a rural province. We are also a province that practices traditional circumcision as part of our culture,†Masilela said.
The spokesman said that not a single death had been caused by the VMMC programme since its inception in 2010.
The province saw 30 148 boys undergo traditional circumcisions during 2013/14.
“These numbers could have been counted under the medically done circumcisions. The wrong perception that circumcision is safe in winter still remains a challenge, which we advise against going forward,†said Masilela.
According to Masilela, the investigation into a R182-million contract awarded to Mkhago Health Care Services, who were contracted by the department to perform 260 000 circumcisions without the deal being put out to tender, is still ongoing.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi instructed the department to report back to him on the findings of the investigation and how the contract was awarded, after Corruption Watch exposed the deal in October 2013.
Makuke Mashile, chairman of the Mpumalanga House of Traditional Leaders, said that safe traditional circumcisions depended on adherence to the recently passed Ingoma Bill.
“To prevent loss of life during initiations, focus should be on the implementation of the Bill. The Act categorically explains what procedures should be followed and, if they are not deviated from, the circumcision should be safe,†Mashile said.
He said that illegal initiation schools in the Nkangala district of the province, where the majority of deaths took place last year, remained a problem.
“Schools and surgeons need to be properly authorised,†he said.
The scale up of VMMCs in South Africa is part of the National Department of Health’s Right to Care programme, which targets HIV negative men from ages 14 up.
Research studies have shown that circumcision reduces HIV infection by up to 60%.
If done under sterile conditions, the operation is low-risk and takes between 20 and 30 minutes. The majority of traditional circumcision deaths are caused by infection as a result of unsterilised equipment and improper medical care. – SAnews.gov.za