The Sunday News
Sunday News Reporter
MEMBERS of the public who wish to be given their foreskins in order to dispose them in ways they deem fit after undergoing circumcision, will not have their requests entertained, in the interests of public health, a senior Government official has said.Head of the HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Owen Mugurungi told Sunday News last week that medical institutions were strictly bound by the law to destroy all medical waste through incineration.
Dr Mugurungi allayed fears that foreskins of circumcised men were being smuggled out of medical institutions and used for witchcraft purposes, saying all male circumcision centres across the country operated under strict conditions which compelled them to burn foreskins soon after conducting circumcision.
He said this responding to claims by Matabeleland South Senator Ms Sithembile Mlotshwa that foreskins of circumcised men were being used for witchcraft.
Introducing a motion in the Upper House recently, Sen Mlotshwa proposed a ban on circumcision of children under 18 years, saying children’s lives were being put at risk, as circumcision could affect their reproductive health.
Sen Mlotshwa also proposed that males who undergo circumcision be given back their foreskins to dispose on their own as a way of safeguarding against the foreskins being used for witchcraft purposes.
“There is a case of witchcraft in Zimbabwe. We so much want to use the parts of a body of a person to pursue finance, marriage or work. What happens to these foreskins of 100 boys that are put in a basket by this doctor?
“Is it not better to give each person his foreskin to dispose the way they see fit? This is because putting them together in a basket will invite witchcraft,” Sen Mlotshwa was quoted saying recently.
However, Dr Mugurungi dismissed Sen Mlotshwa’s claims as baseless and untrue, saying there was no chance that foreskins would find their way outside medical institutions to be used for witchcraft purposes.
“That is very untrue. What happens is that our institutions have mechanisms of disposing medical waste, which include amputations, placenta, syringes and even foreskins.
“All medical waste is incinerated so that it does not cause harm to anybody. There is no way that foreskins can be said to be finding their way out of hospitals and male circumcision centres for purposes of witchcraft.
“Even if a person asks for his foreskin back after being circumcised, the law does not allow us to give them. Why would one want their foreskin, what would they want to use it for? We are bound by the Witchcraft Suppression Act and the Public Health Act and we will not entertain any such requests.
“We have traditional groups that we work with in male circumcision programmes, and we have always encouraged them to burn the foreskins soon after circumcision. So to then suggest that foreskins are being used for witchcraft practice is neither nor there,” he said.
Dr Mugurungi explained the processes of disposing foreskins after circumcision, saying the foreskins are put in disposal bins before being taken for incineration together with other medical waste.
He also defended the circumcision of children under the age of 18, saying the process was done in the best interests of children in the wake of overwhelming evidence that circumcision helped in reducing chances of contracting HIV.
Sunday News visited the Bulawayo Male Circumcision Centre, where a senior official at the centre demonstrated the process of disposing foreskins, adding that there was no chance that the foreskins could be smuggled out of the centre for ulterior purposes.
The senior staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity because prior authorisation had not been granted, said the Bulawayo Male Circumcision Centre incinerated foreskins and other medical waste at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) or Imbizo Barracks on a daily basis.
“After circumcising a person, we put their foreskin in a sharps disposal bin, then at the end of the day we take all the foreskins to either Imbizo Barracks or UBH where we incinerate them.
“We have never heard any cases of people buying foreskins or smuggling them out for witchcraft purposes. I believe it is mere fabrication and there is no truth, in that,” he said.
Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) director general Mr George Kandiero dismissed as false, claims that foreskins could be used for witchcraft purposes.
“That is absolute nonsense. I strongly believe that there is no such thing. In anyway the health ministry would not allow foreskins to find their way out of the hospitals into the hands of individuals.
“If any of our members are in anyway involved, which I strongly doubt, we will deal with them and the law will certainly take its course,” he said.
So far 98 245 males have been circumcised since the start of the year with the Ministry of Health and Child Care targeting to circumcise 217 800 males by the end of the year.