President Robert Mugabe
With more than 250,000 people living with HIV in the Caribbean and the region being adjudged the second-most affected in the world after sub-Saharan Africa, we at CaribDirect take this issue very seriously.
So seriously, that when we learnt of the Zimbabwe government’s draconian measure to attempt to buck the trend of the local HIV / AIDS epidemic we had to share the news. It appears Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe has announced that ALL male members of parliament (MP), some 150 people and councillors are to undergo a mandatory circumcision to help prevent infections of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Zimbabwe has a higher number of orphans, in proportion to its population, than any other country in the world, according to UNICEF. In fact, as many as 1 in 4 children in Zimbabwe are orphaned as a result of parents dying from AIDS.
In Jamaica, on the other hand there are more than 32,000 people living with HIV with 46% having access to HIV treatment while in Zimbabwe over 60% of infected people do NOT receive treatment (WHO).
Research indicates male circumcisions can help prevent infections of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It is this discovery that has formed the basis of the executive order intended to finally make a concerted effort to save Zimbabweans from a manageable disease.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, who is spearheading the program said, “Research has shown that circumcised men are eight times less likely to contract HIV. All the ministers should go for the exercise if our aims of reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS are to be translated into reality. As leaders in government, we should lead by example,”
We’ve found Zimbabwe to be one of 13 countries in East and Southern Africa participating in a .5 billion program to circumcise 38 million men – 80 per cent of the male population under 49 years old – over the next 15 years.
What is particularly funny about this story is that the Deputy Prime Minister instructing the Cabinet to get circumcised is a woman! Yes you heard right, a woman. One cannot help but think this was no accident and may have been orchestrated by President Mugabe himself in an attempt to convey a serious message to the men of Zimbabwe, the principle culprits in the spread of the HIV virus? Or was it an executive oversight that has left an innocent Deputy Prime Minister in a very uncomfortable position…? What do you think?
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