Kabarole district health department has halted the operations of local circumcision surgeons following complaints to department by some of the people circumcised by the surgeons. According to the health department, some of the men circumcised by the local surgeons complain of over bleeding, swelling of the penis and deep cuts. They also complain that the healing process takes over two months.
Last week, three men were admitted at Virika Hospital after they were circumcised by local surgeons. More than 30 local surgeons operate in Kabalore district, whose services are on high demand because of being cheap. They charge between shillings 10,000-15,000 unlike in the major hospitals and clinics which charge between 30,000-50,000 shillings. Richard Mugahi, Kabarole District Health Officer says that the ban affects all surgeons including those who registered with the health department.
He explains that the visited places where local surgeons operate from last year and found them unhygienic. He says that they also found the surgeons using the same knife for more than three people without sterilizing them. Mugahi says that some of the local surgeons have been operating illegally without the knowledge of the district health department. He says that the surgeons will undergo trainings before they resume operating. Mugahi however refused to disclose when the local surgeons will resume operations.
When Uganda Radio Network visited two local surgeons at Kisenyi, a suburb in Fort Portal, the sanitation at their places of work was appalling. There was a bad stench in the room, several blood stained knives placed on a table and blood on the floor. Rashid Mwesige, a local surgeon blames the district for halting their operations, which has been their source of income.
Mwesige also says that he was licensed by the district health department to operate as a surgeon. He says that halting the operations is a trick by the district because men have been shunning hospitals in favor of the local surgeons. Mwesige, who says that he circumcises more than five people every day, says the district should have instead trained the surgeons on the right procedures of circumcision, instead of halting their operations.
//Cue in: “getting money…”
Cue out: “…stopping our work.”//
Male circumcision is encouraged by Ministry of Health and is recommended by the World Health Organization in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV/Aids.
