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Something Rotten: Coverage of illegal initiation schools continues

By JournAIDS

 

CATEGORIES: The Media and HIV/AIDS | Men and HIV | Circumcision | Hot in the media

30 June 2011

Illegal initiation schools which hold and circumcise ‘initiates’ against their will have been media fodder for the last fortnight. The illegal and coercive nature of the establishments should also raise alarm around increased HIV infection.

The Sowetan and The New Age have featured stories on initiates either fleeing or being rescued from circumcision schools. Men and boys who are circumcised at these schools may also run the risk of exposure to HIV.

Circumcisions carried out under these conditions are potentially harmful in that they are not regulated either by the medical or traditional communities.

The individuals at the illegal schools are more than likely not trained to perform the procedure according to either medical or traditional standards.

The procedure might also be performed under conditions which promote the spread of HIV. For example more than one circumcision might be done with the same unsterilized blade.

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