320,000 Luo men are now CIRCUMCISED

The Kenyan DAILY POSTNews00:32

Wed July 11^th 2012 - Over 320,000 men in Nyanza have voluntarily faced the knife in an effort to reduce the spread to HIV and Aids. The Luo men, whose culture and traditions do not allow circumcision agreed to undergo Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision (VMMC) in the first phase of the exercise that has covered a period of four years.

The Government is targeting a total of 426,000 men aged between 15 and 49 years in the first phase of the exercise that started way back in 2008 and expected to end in 2013. Nyanza provided the largest number of participants in the national circumcision exercise that saw over 395,000 men and boys undergo the cut.

In a strategy that will make VMMC more accessible, Nyanza Provincial Task Force on Male Circumcision has partnered with Non governmental  bodies in a plan that will ensure circumcision to those aged 25 and above at their workplaces and weekend camps.

Jackson Kioko, the provincial director of public said that this showed tremendous progress and the planned statistics are likely to be met by the end of next year as was scheduled. He expressed concerns on misinformation about the VMMC saying that men in some instances overestimated the length of the recovery period and underestimated the partner’s will in supporting them in the time of healing.

The program was rolled out with the support of the World Health Organisation and the UNAids. Kenya has its HIV prevalence at 6.3 per cent with more than 1.6 million people living with HIV.

The Kenyan DAILY POST