MEC backs clamp
30 July 2010, 13:47
By Bheki Mbanjwa
Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo has defended the use of the controversial Tara Klamp, a device used in some male circumcision procedures in KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 800 of the 5 571 circumcisions performed in KZN as part of the circumcision drive announced by King Goodwill Zwelithini last year have been performed using the Malaysian device.
Organisations such as the Treatment Action Campaign have objected to the device, saying it is unsafe for use on either adult or adolescent males.
However, Dhlomo said the clamp remained the safest and most effective method of circumcision.
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Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo has defended the use of the controversial Tara Klamp, a device used in some male circumcision procedures in KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 800 of the 5 571 circumcisions performed in KZN as part of the circumcision drive announced by King Goodwill Zwelithini last year have been performed using the Malaysian device.
Organisations such as the Treatment Action Campaign have objected to the device, saying it is unsafe for use on either adult or adolescent males.
However, Dhlomo said the clamp remained the safest and most effective method of circumcision.
Presenting a report in the provincial legislature yesterday, he said another benefit associated with the device was that there was no bleeding during the operation or after-wards.
"It is a disposable device and also reduces the risk of infection," he said, adding that the province would continue using the device in its circumcision drive.
Dhlomo announced that a team of Malaysian doctors, including the inventor of the Tara Klamp, Dr T Gurcharan Singh, was visiting the country. The team is training doctors and male nurses on the correct use of the device.
Dhlomo said according to data from clinical trials, it was estimated that routine male medical circumcision across sub-Saharan Africa could prevent up to six million deaths over the next two decades.
The province aimed to circumcise more than 2 million men between the ages of 15 and 49, he said.
So far, 2 223 circumcisions had been performed at health facilities and 2 548 at circumcision camps across KZN.
- This article was originally published on page 2 of The Daily News on July 30, 2010
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