05 Feb 2019

South East District is still struggling to meet the target of 300 safe male circumcision surgeries in three months.

This was revealed by the District Health Management Team report, which also stated that for an extended period, the district had been struggling to meet the target despite existing efforts to raise public awareness on the benefits of safe male circumcision.

It stated that between July and September last year, the district managed only 76 SMCs and only 117 operations were done between October and December.

According to the report, the low numbers were caused by men who were reluctant to undergo the operation, citing pain among other reasons.

Among initiatives that the district came up with, was the SMC school campaign, which targeted school going boys, but that had only helped the figure to reach 117 operations.

The report further revealed that early infant SMC had also been under performing as parents were said to be reluctant to give consent, giving reasons that they were still to consult the fathers.

From July to September, it showed that out of 208 eligible infants, only 23 were circumcised and between October and December, out of 216 eligible infants, only 24 were circumcised.

It further revealed that there was need to sensitise mothers about the importance of the surgery, as failure to perform it could increase the chances of getting the virus.

The DHMT report said the implications for low numbers undergoing SMC could be high risks of HIV and other STIs.

On other health issues, the report indicated a high increase in the number of STIs between December and October across all ages. 

A total of 727 cases were reported while only 620 were recorded between July and September.

In the last quarter high figures are attributed to a high festive mood, which could have led to some indulging in risky behaviours.

The report indicated that there was a high number of people who tested for the virus in the last quarter; 5 150 tested against 3 778 between July to September.

According to the DHMT report, the improved numbers showed that the community was eager to know HIV status, which would ultimately lead to improved uptake of HIV interventions as well as reduce  risky behaviour. Ends