FIRST READ:
Archbishop Dr. Luke Orombi should fight HIV using the bible and not conjectural science
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/06/archbishop-dr-luke-orombi-should-fight.html
Circumcision is the same as baptism :Archbishop Dr. Luke Orombi urges Christians to embrace Male circumcision
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/06/circumcision-is-same-as-baptism.
Museveni warns on male circumcision
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/759239
Sunday, 3rd July, 2011
By Vision Reporter
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has cautioned Ugandans not to consider male circumcision as the remedy and automatic control of HIV/AIDS infection.
He said messages promoting the practice were misguiding and may put the lives of many people in danger since it had not been proven to be scientifically true.
The President made the remarks during a thanksgiving service organised by the First Lady and Ruhaama MP, Janet Museveni, to thank the Lord for her landslide victory in the February polls.
The function was held at Ruhaama sub-county headquarters in Ruhaama county, Ntungamo district on Saturday.
He said if male circumcision was the answer to HIV prevention, then Ugandans who conduct circumcision as a traditional belief or a religious practice would not contract the disease.
He, however, said there is proof that these people had contracted HIV and the disease prevails in their communities.
The President emphasised abstinence from premarital sex and faithfulness in marriage as the guarantee to a life free from HIV.
During the function, Museveni highlighted the Government’s commitment to ensuring food security in homesteads and overcoming household poverty in the next five years.
Others are to develop major infrastructure and ensure excellent service delivery.
He warned government officials charged with supervision of government programmes at the grassroots and service delivery in health centres, that they risk punitive action if they are found to be negligent.
The President commended the people of Ruhaama for voting the NRM in the February elections.
He particularly thanked them for overwhelmingly voting Mrs. Museveni back into Parliament. Mrs. Museveni got 86% of the votes cast, trouncing her three challengers in the race.
The President said although he was originally opposed to her joining politics, Mrs. Museveni had proved to be a great asset to the NRM and the country.
He cited her contribution to development and fostering unity in her constituency and her clear ideology that looks at leadership as a sacrifice and not a source of income.
Mrs. Museveni, on her part, greatly thanked the people of Ruhaama and Ntungamo for being trustworthy and keeping their promises manifested by their voting patterns.
She commended the leaders of Ruhaama for embracing her ideology which emphasises service beyond self and selflessness in serving one’s nation.
Mrs. Museveni asked leaders to emulate the example of the freedom fighters who liberated Uganda, saying they risked their lives without pay and no guarantee of safety.
She thanked the President for sparing time out of his busy schedule to attend the occasion.
Mrs. Museveni encouraged the people of Ruhaama to use these five years to give glory to God and unite in building the foundation laid in the last term.
Former Prime Minister Prof. Apollo Nsibambi said Mrs. Museveni, while state minister for Karamoja affairs, exhibited excellent management and supervisory skills that put her among the best ministers in the Government.
Nsibambi further thanked Museveni for giving him the opportunity to contribute to shaping the destiny of Uganda for the 15 years when he served the country both as minister and Prime Minister.
The main celebrant, Bishop Yona Katonene of West Ankole Diocese, said God appoints and anoints leaders at different times for different purposes.
He said leaders are worthwhile since they are God-sent.
Katonene commended the President and Mrs. Museveni for being leaders who know God and said Uganda was blessed to have them.
Katonene applauded Mrs. Museveni for her passion for the youth and children, her care for the vulnerable and her encouragement of the youth to fight HIV by abstaining from sex before marriage.
Circumcision cuts HIV cases by 76%
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/760950
Friday, 22nd July, 2011
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By Francis Kagolo and Agencies
NEW cases of HIV among men fell by an astonishing 76% after a circumcision programme, a new study has shown. The study was unveiled at the just concluded world AIDS forum in Rome.
It has also been disclosed that men experience greater sexual pleasure after circumcision, a finding expected to help overcome unease about the operation.
Researchers at Makerere University interviewed 316 men, average age 22, who had
been circumcised between February and September 2009. A month after the operation, 82.3% said they were “very satisfied” with the operation, while 17.7% said they were satisfied.
A year later, 220 of the volunteers said they were sexually active, a quarter of whom said they used condoms. A total of 87.7% said they found it easier to reach orgasm after being circumcised, while 92.3% said they experienced more sexual pleasure.
This reinforces previous findings that circumcised men found greater sexual enjoyment, thus easing one of the mental barriers to the campaign.
However, it was reiterated that circumcision does not offer 100% protection, although its ardent advocates sometimes call it ‘surgical vaccine’.
The study in Orange Farm, South Africa, which showed a 76% reduction in new HIV cases, reported that circumcision was 58% effective.
The data was presented at a four-day conference on scientific aspects of HIV. The conference closed on Wednesday.
According to the research conducted at Makerere, nine out of 10 men said they were happy with how their penises looked after circumcision and over 95.4% said they believed their partners liked the appearance.
The study is similar to another conducted by the university in Rakai in 2007 that involved 445 women aged 15 to 49 years.
A total of 971.1% of the women interviewed reported either no change or improved sexual satisfaction after their male partners were circumcised.
“These findings suggest that male circumcision has no deleterious effect on female sexual satisfaction,” Dr. Godfrey Kigozi, the lead researcher, said yesterday.
Another study in the same year also reported an increase in men’s sexual satisfaction from 98.0% at enrolment to 99.9% two years after circumcision.
“These studies are a fantastic result for a simple intervention which costs $56 and takes 20 minutes,” said David Lewis of the Society for Family Health in South Africa.
However, France’s 2008 Nobel prize winner, who in 1983 co-identified HIV as the source of AIDS, said over-confidence in circumcision was a major anxiety.
“Nothing provides 100% protection, not even a vaccine. Circumcision has to be part of a combined approach,” she told AFP.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two-thirds of the 33 million people living with HIV. As of mid 2010, about 175,000 circumcisions had been carried out in 13 countries considered priorities, according to UNAIDS.
Uganda’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 6.4%. It is estimated that 110,000 people, including over 20,000 children, are infected with HIV annually.
