Why Get a Circumcision?

 Why get a Circumcision ?

Circumcision is the most commonly undertaken operation in the history of mankind. It is widely undertaken throughout the world for religious, cultural, hygienic, medical and preventative reasons.

Different cultures adopt different techniques to acquire the same end result, which is to have the foreskin removed resulting in the exposure of the glans of the penis.

If infant male circumcision is being performed for reasons other than the treatment of a specific medical problem, the health benefits are primarily preventive and may only be realized long after the procedure has been carried out. Circumcision may reduce the risk of acquiring some infections and related complications but does not guarantee complete protection. Some of these conditions are not as common as others, and the degree of risk may depend on the behaviours of the individual and the community to which he belongs. The benefits of male circumcision include the following.

• Decreased risk of Urinary Tract Infections
• Prevention of phimosis – scarring of the opening of the foreskin which prevents it from being able to be pulled backwards
• Prevention of paraphymosis – a rare complication of phimosis
• Prevention of balanits – which occurs when debris and irritants collects under the foreskin leading to swelling or inflammation
• Decreased risk of sexually transmitted diseases.
• Decrease risk of cancer of the penis
• Decrease risk of cancer of the cervix in female sexual partners – cervical cancers occurs less in women whose partners are circumcised
• Decreased vaginal infections occur less in female sexual partners whose partners have been circumcised

‘MALE CIRCUMCISION PROVIDES SEVERAL MEDICAL BENEFITS. IN 2007, UNAIDS AND WHO CONCLUDED THAT THE EFFICACY OF MALE CIRCUMCISION IN REDUCING FEMALE TO MALE TRANSMISSION OF HIV HAS BEEN PROVEN BEYOND RESONABLE DOUBT.’