Sixty-eight legislators have volunteered to go under the knife and be circumcised this Friday as a show of their commitment towards curbing the spread of HIV and Aids.
Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians Against HIV and Aids Blessing Chebundo told NewsDay yesterday that the MPs had started undergoing voluntary counselling sessions at Parliament building.
“The response by MPs was very high and we are now doing group counselling sessions to prepare us for the main event on Friday,” Chebundo said.
“Counselling sessions will be supported by the New Start Centre, the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, as well as the Population Services International (PSI).” Chebundo said six legislators had also offered to undergo Voluntary Counselling and Testing for HIV, but it was up to individual MPs to announce their results. While male MPs would be circumcised, female MPs were also encouraged to bring forward their spouses for circumcision.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe last year encouraged male politicians to lead by example and go under the knife arguing research had established that male circumcision reduced HIV infections by about 60%. The matter raised a storm in Parliament after some government ministers fiercely rejected Khupe’s idea. Last month, while debating in the House of Assembly Magwegwe MP Felix Magalela Sibanda revealed he was not comfortable with circumcision.
“HIV should be a syllabus for the youths at a tender age – not to tell us here in Parliament when I am already 65 years old and you tell me to go and get circumcised when I have sired 18 children without circumcision,” Magalela Sibanda argued.
