THE United States is funding the circumcision of 28,000 Zimbabwean men in aid of a radical Health Ministry programme to cut HIV infections by more than 80 percent over the next 15 years.

Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partner John Snow International, has supplied approximately 5,000 medical kits to Zimbabwe to support the “proven and important way to reduce the incidence of HIV”.

The circumcision kits are the first part of a US$1,5 million PEPFAR donation of medical supplies that can facilitate up to 28,000 circumcision procedures. Each kit contains the necessary equipment to perform a male circumcision, including forceps, disposable scalpels, needles and gauze.

The World Health Organization estimates that male circumcision lowers the chance of contracting HIV in males by up to 60 percent.  At present, only about 10 percent of adult males in Zimbabwe are circumcised.

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is expanding its pilot male circumcision programme. The Ministry has identified a goal of circumcising 80 percent of adult (ages 15-49) and newborn males in Zimbabwe by 2015.

Estimates show that scaling-up medical male circumcision services to reach 80 percent of all adult and newborn males in Zimbabwe by 2015 would reduce the number of new adult HIV infections by more than 80 percent by the end of 2025.

Other support is being provided by the United Nations Population Fund and Population Services International (PSI), which are partnering with USAID and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to expand male circumcision across the country.

“We are proud to support the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health in its efforts to support and promote widespread use of male circumcision in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” USAID Health Development Officer Peter Halpert said Wednesday.

“Male circumcision is a new and innovative way of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and we urge young men to consider the procedure.” 

The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.

A US embassy spokesman said: “The United States remains fully committed and engaged with Zimbabwe in the fight against HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR, including the government of Zimbabwe’s scale up of antiretroviral treatment.