Nearly 90,000 Zimbabwean males circumcised this year

The number is still short of the 2013 target of 115,000 but a remarkable increase from 40,755 who underwent the procedure last year, a health official said.

The rise has been attributed to the increase in facilities offering the operation with male circumcision now performed at provincial, district and mission hospitals and stand-alone centres, said AIDS and Tuberculosis Unit director at the Ministry of Health Dr Owen Mugurungi.

At least 87,858 males were circumcised across the country from January to October this year.

"This year’s output marks a significant increase as compared with 2012, when a total of 40,755 males were circumcised," Dr Mugurungi said.

Bulawayo had the highest number of males circumcised with 18 per cent compared with 5.0 per cent in Midlands, Mashonaland Central, and Mashonaland West provinces.

The increase in Bulawayo was a result of various initiatives employed in raising awareness of the advantages of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC).

Dr Mgurungi said the government would be increasing the number of teams trained to provide VMMC in provinces with low percentages of circumcised males.

The Zimbabwe government introduced VMMC as a way of reducing HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases after evidence had demonstrated that circumcision reduced chances of men contracting HIV by 60 per cent.