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HIV: Malawi debates circumcision
28/02/2007 12:09 - (SA)
Blantyre - Aids-ravaged Malawi launched a two-day national debate on Wednesday on whether to adopt male circumcision in a bid to reduce the levels of HIV infection in the south-east African country.
International health experts, donors, representatives from UNAids and local traditional healers will all attend the conference in Blantyre in the wake of trials showing male circumcision more than halves the risk of infection.
"We want candid and frank discussions to chart the way forward," said Bizwick Mwale, executive director of the National Aids Commission (NAC).
"We want to consult as much as possible before any decision is made (about) whether Malawi should embrace male circumcision."
Trials recently conducted in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa found that men who were uncircumcised were twice as likely to contract the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) compared with circumcised counterparts.
Dramatic results
The data were so dramatic that the trials in Kenya and Uganda were halted ahead of schedule, for it would have been ethically wrong to continue them.
Mwale said that the meeting would "basically analyse all data available supporting male circumcision".
"We also want to hear from UNAids for their perspective on this issue," the NAC chief added.
The conference is expected to hammer out recommendations to guide policy makers to decide whether to adopt male circumcision in HIV prevention.
Mwale said only about 2% of the population, mainly Muslims living along the vast Lake Malawi shore, have been circumcised on religious grounds.
Around 14% of Malawi's 12 million-strong population is infected with HIV, according to official figures. There are about 78 000 Aids-related deaths and 100 000 new infections every year.
The pandemic has cut life expectancy in Malawi to 36.
- AFP
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