22,335
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
wikify HIV
|quote=The emphasis is on reaching 80 percent coverage with the Soka Uncobe campaign...
|accessdate=2011-05-06
}}</ref> with [[HIV ]] prevention as the pretext.
<ref>{{REFnews
|last=Mazzotta
|quote=In a country with the practice of having multiple concurrent sexual partners and the highest HIV prevalence in the world...
|accessdate=2011-05-06
}}</ref> and the country with the highest [[HIV ]] prevalence in the world. Swaziland has a very low prevalence of male circumcision,<ref>{{REFnews
|last=Mazzotta
|first=Meredith
|quote=Since Swaziland is a very small country with a very high prevalence of HIV and a very low prevalence of MC, it provides a very good case study on the relationship between MC and HIV infections prevented.
|accessdate=2011-05-06
}}</ref> and this is has been indicated as one of the "driving factors" behind the high prevalence of [[HIV]],<ref>{{REFnews
|last=Mazzotta
|first=Meredith
|quote=Various studies have identified main drivers of the epidemic: multiple concurrent sexual partners, low levels of male circumcision, inconsistent use of condoms and long periods of premarital sexual activity.
|accessdate=2011-05-06
}}</ref> although other studies have shown that [[HIV ]] transmission was more prevalent in the circumcised population than it was in the intact population.<ref>{{REFnews
|last=
|first=
|quote=In March or April of 2010, the Swazi Cabinet approved the current plan, which the U.S. government agreed to support.
|accessdate=2011-05-06
}}</ref> Since then, U.S. government personnel have worked to align PEPFAR resources in support of the national plan. The Government of Swaziland asked PEPFAR to support the national male circumcision plan as one of the "five pillars" of the Swaziland - United States PEPFAR Partnership Framework on [[HIV]]/AIDS.<ref>{{REFnews
|last=Mazzotta
|first=Meredith
}}</ref>
In March 22, 2011, the U.S. government officially handed over a wide range of materials in support of the USDF’s efforts to combat [[HIV]]/AIDS, which included 7 prefabricated medical facilities supporting the Soka Uncobe male circumcision campaign. In all, the materials handed over at the ceremony and those that will be arriving in the future are valued at over E 12.5 million. Representing the United States Government were Charge d’Affaires Craig Cloud, joined by Dr. Anne Thomas of the U.S. Department of the Defense, and in a speech given by Cloud, it was noted that "if the Soka Uncobe campaign is successful in circumcising 152,000 men during 2011, it could prevent 88,000 people from getting infected with [[HIV ]] and save the government and the people of Swaziland E 4.5 billion in medical treatment costs."<ref>{{REFnews
|last=Press Release
|first=
|quote=THE public has received the Male Circumcision campaign "Soka Uncobe" with mixed feelings as some people have come out to say the message was not clear.
|accessdate=2011-05-13
}}</ref> Advertisements promoting the campaign display four women, sending confusing messages, one being that once one was circumcised, they would be able to "conquer" more women. Regarding the logo and the slogan "Soka Uncobe" itself, some have gotten the message that “one has conquered” and would not get [[HIV ]] and AIDS. The greatest concern is that the message is promoting multiple concurrent partnerships.<ref>{{REFnews
|last=Ndlangamandla
|first=Nelsiwe
|quote=Solomon Mndzebele, who is a caregiver under Red Cross, made a personal plea to the ministry of health to remove the message from the kombis stating that it was making his work difficult.
|accessdate=2011-05-13
}}</ref> According to Mndzebele, "When you tell people about condoms they would just tell you that they would circumcise and by then they would have conquered [[HIV ]] AIDS."
{{REF}}