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Give it up for circumcision!

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To all the Zimbabwean men out there, did you know that male circumcision reduces the potential of contracting HIV and AIDS by 60%when having unprotected sex? It is considered one of the key defenders against the HIV virus. Please note men that I did not say it is the only defender and it is only 60% effective, meaning there is still a good percentage of getting infected if you have unprotected sex with an HIV positive woman.

Back to circumcision. The foreskin of the penis has HIV target cells called langerhans cells. So if you get rid of the most vulnerable part of your penis even the risk of getting STIs is reduced. The foreskin is very rich in blood supply and we all know that where there is blood the virus does not take long to attack. Not only is the foreskin rich in blood supply it can easily tear during sex especially with this dry sex practice that has taken the southern part of Africa by numbers. I say this because dry sex has increased not only the HIV virus to go on the rise but the ladies who practice this have a high chance of suffering from cervical cancer.

Circumcision does not take way from sexual pleasure; in the words of the lady who was doing the presentation from Population Services International (PSI) pleasure is in the mind. She also reassured the males that were in that discussion that the procedure is not painful. In fact with the kind of drug they use to make your penis feel numb, your whole penis could be cut off and you wouldn’t feel the pain. The pain you feel after the procedure is the same pain you feel when you have a minor headache. I hope I am encouraging someone to go for circumcision especially the ones who are HIV negative. This procedure is not for any one living positively because they could be some complications but to all the healthy males you can be out and about in six weeks.

I know I sound like an expert and as if I have gone under the knife myself, it’s just that the lady who gave us this information on Tuesday had good examples. She even had a dummy penis to show us what it takes to be circumcised.

I would like to stress that getting circumcised does not mean you are free from contracting the virus if you have unsafe sex. Practice safe sex always, stick to one partner and above all abstain.

2 comments to “Give it up for circumcision!”

  1. Comment by Bob Hitchens:

    You have to be completely insane to chop part of your penis off so that you can catch HIV next week instead of this week.

    How about you put a condom on each and every time, and enjoy your foreskin? Radical idea, I know.

    When we look back on this whole debacle in 20 years, thousands to millions of men will have lost their foreskins, and you know why they won’t care? They’ll be dead from HIV/AIDS. The fact it took them 3 infected partners instead of 2 to catch it is of no consolation.

    Stupid … stupid … stupid

  2. Comment by Hugh7:

    Circumcision makes little or no difference if you practise safe sex. Relying on circumcision and having sex without a condom is like playing Russian Roulette with only one bullet in the chamber of your revolver instead of two.

    The people from Population Services International are promoting circumcision like mad, but it’s not clear why, when condoms not only protect against HIV but unwanted pregnancies as well.

    Interesting information about “dry sex”, and this could also explain the claim that circumcision protects against HIV: if men who get circumcised (whether taking part in a “scientific” trial or at any other time) give up dry sex, they also reduce their risk of HIV. There are many problems with those studies. After circumcising 5,400 men, 64 got HiV, and 73 didn’t who might have if they had not been circumcised. That’s a lot of circumcisions that did no good at all.

    “Pleasure is in the mind”? Sure – tell that to a man who has lost his whole penis. He’ll tell you his mind is only part of the story. The studies that claim to show circumcision does not reduce pleasure were all made by people who are determined to sell circumcision. Get circumcised if you want, but once cut, there’s no putting it back on.