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Loveness Bepete Chronicle Reporter
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has introduced a non-surgical method of circumcision in the country, the national male circumcision co-coordinator Dr Sinokuthaba Xaba has confirmed.He said in non-surgical circumcision, there is no bleeding. The new method is aimed at increasing choices for men intending to undergo circumcision. When one is being circumcised through this method, a ring is put on the penis around the unwanted foreskin.

“It dries out the foreskin and after seven days the ring is removed together  with the  dry foreskin,” Dr Xaba said.

“The final result is the same because both methods  result in complete circumcision. The only added  advantage is that the device can be available at clinic level where no surgical services are ordinarily available. There’s  no bleeding with this method since the  circumcision is gradual. It therefore becomes a suitable  method for those who are uncomfortable with seeing  blood no matter how small.”

He said the non-surgical method had a disadvantage in that the process was gradual.

“The only disadvantage is that the circumcision takes seven days to complete and may not be a method of  choice for those individuals who want it done at once,” he added.

He said all foreskins from circumcisions are destroyed through incineration which is available at every health facility.

“This is in accordance with the Human Tissue Act of  Zimbabwe which prescribes what should happen  to  all body parts that are removed either as part of treatment  through  surgery,” he  said.

The Ministry of Health embarked on a circumcision drive in 2009 as part of the national response to the HIV epidemic.

More than 400,235 males have been circumcised against a 2017 target of 1.3 million men.

Male circumcision is said to reduce the chances of contracting HIV virus by up to 60 percent, protects against penile cancer and reduces a risk of cervical cancer in female sex partners.