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Zimbabwe's parliamentarians ignored a call for universal circumcision
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
Zimbabwean MPs have ignored a call from their deputy prime minister to undergo circumcision to prevent HIV infection. As a BBC News correspondent reports, seven out of eight Zimbabwean male MPs he interviewed rejected this method of combating HIV infection.
Earlier, Zimbabwe's Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe called on MPs and ministers to undergo circumcision to set an example for the male population of the African country. Khupe cited data from the World Health Organization, according to which circumcision reduces the risk of HIV infection during heterosexual contact by 60%.
Last year, Zimbabwe, one of the countries in Africa hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, launched a circumcision campaign that hopes to increase the circumcision rate among young men in the country to 80%.
Meanwhile, circumcision is unpopular in Zimbabwe - it is practiced for religious reasons only by a few ethnic groups.
One Zimbabwean MP interviewed by the BBC described Ms Khupe's proposal as "madness". A second MP said he was already doing a lot to prevent AIDS, setting an example of good behaviour for his fellow citizens.
The initiative was not supported by the Minister of National Health and Reconciliation Moses Mzila Ndlovu. In his opinion, the idea of universal circumcision is “unnatural”. One of Ndlovu’s subordinates, Nelson Chamisa, said that circumcision should be a personal matter. “We need circumcision of the mind, not circumcision of the organ,” he added.