Zambia gets non-surgical male circumcision gadgets from Israel

Zambia’s Ministry of Health receives gadgets for non-surgical male circumcision from the government of Israel.

According to Zambia’s Minister of Health, Chitalu Chilufya, the gesture from the Israeli government had come at the correct time when the government was racing to meet its target of circumcising two million men and boys in a bid to achieve epidemic control of HIV/AIDS by 2020.

Chitalu Chilufya further clarified that the Government acknowledged the devastating impact that the HIV or AIDS pandemic has and continues to have on the Zambian society causing it to place emphasis on prevention strategies that will contribute towards the reduction in HIV incidence, voluntary male circumcision being one such intervention, as reported by Lusaka Times.

“Evidence from research studies has shown that male circumcision reduces a man’s chance of spreading HIV by 60 percent. Studies that have modelled the impact of VMMC in Zambia indicate that if we reach our goal of circumcising 90 percent of all HIV negative adult males by end of 2020, we will prevent over 340,000 new HIV infections. If we are to effectively reduce the incidence of HIV, we all need to actively contribute to ensuring that Zambia achieves Universal Coverage of Male Circumcision,” Chitalu Chilufya added.

He also said that since Zambia has a goal to reach circumcising 2 million men and boys by 2020, innovative ways of providing VMMC in an efficient and cost-effective way. Hence, PrePex device offered such innovations and it would undeniably cause a significant increase in MCs if introduced as one of the methods available to clients. “With the donation, it will help to accelerate the implementation of the study and will effectively help in outreach activities,” he stated.

Gershon Kedar, Israeli Ambassador to Zambia said that the government of Israel will continue partnering with the Zambian government in many aspects including health.

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