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Circumcision


What is circumcision?

The circumcision is a religious and traditional practice that consists of an excision of the superior membrane that covers the gland still named as the foreskin. The circumcision is a passing ritual from childhood to adolescence or to the adulthood practiced everywhere in Africa. Passing rituals are well ingrained in the men’s morals who must, according to them, relay to their heirs, using the same cutting objects or razor blade or scissors on all the boys as their parents taught them. Circumcision and HIV related risks

Traditional circumcision is practiced on young boys from 5 to 12 years old and often later according to the ethnic group. Even though this practice is more often done in hospital using sterilized instruments, many African people in far away zones are still doing it with the traditional methods. Children undergo this intervention without local anesthesia and might be exposed to hemorrhage and infections.

Even though it has been shown that the circumcised men are less exposed to sexually transmitted diseases because of the foreskin absence and the easiness of gland cleaning, a non circumcised penis increases the risks of HIV because the foreskin has a tendency to hide the sperm longer and the sperm has a higher concentration in protein which let the virus live longer, as a result, will have more chance to infect the partner during a sexual relation. A good hygiene diminishes the risk, but does not guarantee the complete elimination of the virus in the 24 hours that follow the sexual relation.

The HIV virus when exposed to oxygen dies, however, after a blood transfusion, the virus could survive in a needle during 24 hours because of the high protein concentration in the blood and the lack of oxygen in the needle that does not permit the destruction of the virus. The foreskin has the same capacity of blood preservation or the HIV infected sperm for a long time, if it is not carefully cleaned.