A non-profit health organisation, Right to Care, urges all men to take advantage of a free medical circumcision programme.
Free circumcisions will be done at the Soka Clinic, Building 1B, 11 Reynolds Street in Port Shepstone and at St Andrews Hospital in Harding on Fridays from 07:30 to 16:30.
Dr Khumbulani Moyo, chief of party of the voluntary medical male circumcision programme at Right to Care, said if you take advantage of Soka Fridays, you can get circumcised and be back at home or work on Monday morning.
Moyo said men now have a chance to take extra care to protect themselves and their partners from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
He said Right to Care has partnered with health centres in each province to encourage and make it easy for men to be circumcised at no charge.
He explained that circumcision could help prevent HIV by as much as 60%, saying that it also reduces the transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer in women.
“Right to Care has performed over 1.5 million safe circumcisions since 2012. Medical circumcision is done under local anaesthetic and takes only 30 minutes, and there is very little pain involved. Your healthcare worker will tell you everything you need to know, including how to care for your wound,” he said.
He added that many men worry about the effect a circumcision may have on their sex life, saying that when performed by trained medical professionals in recognised healthcare facilities, circumcision has no adverse effects on sexual function or pleasure.
“It is only during the short healing process that men should not have sex or masturbate,” he said.
Meanwhile, popular comedian Simphiwe Shembe supports the health organisation’s circumcision drive as a key component of the HIV prevention programme.
Shembe said he is promoting circumcision as a lifestyle choice.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to HIV and the other benefits of circumcision. Males aged over 15 now have the chance to take the bold step to circumcise by making use of the free and voluntary medical circumcision programme available in their local community,” he said.
To find out more about free medical circumcision or to make an appointment, call or send a ‘please call me’ to 082 8086152.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Fever’s Facebook page
