Traditional circumcisers disagree with Health CS over directive

Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa during the launch of drug administration campaign at Malava Municipality grounds in Kakamega county on December 13, 2024. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

The Ministry of Health has directed communities carrying out circumcision rites to take their boys to approved hospitals for the procedure, in a bid to curb infections, the spread of diseases, and botched surgeries.

Mass circumcision rites among teenage boys, currently on long school holidays, are ongoing across several counties in the Western region.

However, traditional circumcisers have opposed the move, arguing that some health facilities have overseen botched circumcisions and fatalities at the hands of unqualified health practitioners. They have called on the government to take action against unaccredited hospitals first.

Speaking in Malava Constituency, Kakamega County, Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa urged parents to register their children with the Social Health Authority (SHA) so that they can be covered when undergoing circumcision in health facilities.

"I am glad to see our boys being circumcised because this is the circumcision season, but we must be cautious with the methods we are using. We want our children to go to hospitals for the procedure, and we should stop the traditional method of using one knife for many boys," said Dr Barasa.

She added that the traditional method of using a single knife for the process puts young boys at risk of contracting diseases and undergoing botched circumcisions.

"We want our boys to visit hospitals to avoid disease transmission, and in health facilities, they are safe. If they are registered under SHA, our new insurance scheme will cover the cost of the procedure," she said.

However, James Aluda, a traditional circumciser from Malava Constituency, acknowledged the CS's concerns but maintained that the Kabras community has been using the traditional method for a long time without any reported cases of botched circumcisions.

"It is good for our boys to have a safe circumcision, but as a culture, we have circumcised our boys using a knife for a long time, and we have never recorded any cases of death or unsafe procedures. What we have encountered are isolated cases where quacks have been performing the procedure, but as elders, we stepped in and contained the issue," said Aluda.

He further alleged that many cases of botched circumcisions have occurred at various health facilities, where unqualified health workers have performed the procedure.