Swaziland: Debate over male circumcision

Male circumcision as a method to reduce the risk of HIV infection is being hotly debated this week after a prominent politician announced that his four sons had been circumcised, contrary to Swazi tradition. "All male children should be circumcised. To show my seriousness, I have taken all my sons for circumcision," MP and former House Speaker, Marwick Khumalo, told his constituents at Lobamba, 20 km east of the capital, Mbabane. Khumalo said he wondered why circumcision, despite the evidence of its effectiveness, was not being stressed as a way to reduce HIV infection.