Botswana, one of the countries with the highest HIV prevalence in the world, is focusing on the use of male circumcision as a means of preventing new infections in the country, the local press reported.
The decision to shift emphasis from the issues of anti-retroviral therapy, stigmatisation and others to prevention was arrived at during a recent annual planning conference hosted by the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP) in Francistown City, in the northern part of Botswana.
Participants at the meeting agreed that it was time to change tactics and focus on prevention, with male circumcision as one of the focal points, while at the same time emphasising treatment and care, behavioural change and HIV testing and re-testing.
Research has shown that male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of HIV infection.
It has also been discovered that male who are not circumcised are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, infant urinary tract infections and penile cancer, while female partners of uncircumcised males are also at greater risk of suffering from cervical cancer.
According to an official of the HIV/AIDS prevention and care department in the Ministry of Health, Mabel Kejelepula, the ministry has already made assessments and developed strategies through which the number of male circumcisions can be increased.
