adminNokusa Masuku Chronicle Reporter
THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has allayed fears that foreskins removed during male circumcision are being sold or used for witchcraft, among other unethical uses.There have been concerns over their disposal, with some suggesting that they were ending up being used for ritual purposes or to make facial creams.
The national co-ordinator for male circumcision in the health ministry, Sinokuthemba Xaba yesterday said the country has a law in place that governs the disposal of human body parts and it is being followed.
“It is not true (that the foreskins are being sold). There is a law which states that body parts must be managed and an individual cannot claim his body part,” he said.
“The claims that people make that foreskins are sold is not true as there is a law governing the management of human body parts removed after surgical operations.”
Xaba said the Human Tissues Act stipulates that all human tissue removed from anyone’s body at a health facility, including foreskins is incinerated.
He said they cannot be given to their owners in the interest of public health.
The health official acknowledged that there has been speculation on what happens to foreskins and other human organs removed in surgical operations.
“The National Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) Programme under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Child Care is guided by the Human Tissues Act of 1982 in the disposal of foreskins,” he said.
“There is a place where surgical wastes are burnt in any hospital including foreskins. They are incinerated at higher temperatures and are not taken home.
“Disposal of the foreskins is done through incineration at recommended temperatures in the same manner that other body tissue such as fetuses and limbs from amputations are destroyed after surgical procedures,” he said.
Recently, Matabeleland South Senator Sithembile Mlotshwa suggested in parliament that the foreskins were being used for witchcraft.
“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,” said the MDC-T senator.
Since January 98,245 males have been circumcised with the Ministry of Health and Child Care targeting to circumcise 217,800 males by the end of the year.
Online Reporter