Infant circumcision can be safely performed in rural Africa

A new study indicates that early infant circumcision, which helps to prevent HIV transmission later in life, can be safely performed in rural Uganda.

In 501 infants who were circumcised by either trained clinical officers (256 infants) or registered nurse midwives (245 infants), the rates of moderate/severe adverse events were 2.4 percent with surgeries by clinical officers and 1.6 percent with surgeries by registered nurse midwives. All wounds were healed by four weeks post-circumcision. Maternal satisfaction with the procedure was 99.6 percent for infants circumcised by clinical officers and 100 percent among infants circumcised by registered nurse midwives.

"Preventable HIV infections are still a major concern, and circumcision is one of the priority measures in combination HIV prevention for high burden countries," said Dr. Edward Nelson Kankaka, lead author of the BJU International study. "Our findings suggest registered nurse midwives could be a useful untapped resource for early infant circumcision in Uganda and similar settings, which is more sustainable in the long term."

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