As the second school holiday period draws nearer, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday that the hospital will conduct its circumcision service for children starting June 14 till 29.
Sitting underneath the bright murals at a clinic, 22-year-old Elijah Ochanda gestures at his shorts and explains: "When they remove this thing, it makes you safer."
"Over time, male circumcision, which has been called a 'surgical vaccine', would probably protect more women, albeit indirectly, than nearly any other achievable HIV prevention strategy."
The protective effect for heterosexual males was compared to a vaccine and other health benefits were observed, such as a lower incidence of urinary tract infections, some cancers and certain STDs.
Results from trials in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda in 2006 showed that male circumcision reduced the transmission of HIV from women to men by up to 60 percent. As a result the WHO / UNAIDS has recommended that countries encourage men to be circumcised.
Uncircumcised men are at an increased risk for infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), including oncogenic types, in the glans/corona of the penis, researchers from Hawaii report.
The policy, stipulating how all willing Kenyan men, irrespective of their age, will undergo circumcision, sets into motion the use of the surgical procedure as a standard HIV prevention strategy for the country.
Research has shown that a circumcised man is 65 per cent less likely to contract HIV from a woman who has the virus than is a man whose penis still has a foreskin.
