Male Circumcision: What Nigeria MUST Do To eliminating HIV infection

By Morenike Folayan

There is no doubt that male circumcision reduces the risk of HIV acquisition by circumcised men. Studies have shown equivocally that there is a 60% reduction in the risk of contracting HIV infection for men who are circumcised. This is not the same as female circumcision otherwise referred to as female genital mutilation.

Very recently, a publication also showed that medical male circumcision also reduces the risk of HIV infection by 30% for women. The science of this is well known. The removal of the foreskin reduces the bacterial load around the penis. This reduces the risk of sexually transmitted infection for both male and female. Having a sexually transmitted infection increases the risk for HIV infection several folds. This is one of the important ways medical male circumcision reduces the risk of HIV infection.

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Access to medical male circumcision has been largely promoted in Eastern and Southern Africa where prevalence of circumcision is as low as 18%.

In Nigeria, as high as 85% of men are circumcised. The largest proportion are in Southwest Nigeria

15% of uncircumcised men in Nigeria translates to over 8 million men: a population larger than many countries in Africa combined. While we think 15% may be a small proportion, the number is large enough to invest efforts to promote medical male circumcision as a HIV prevention tool in Nigeria. This is more so that there are populations in Nigeria that are disproportionately at increased risk for HIV infection because they are uncircumcised. 

There has been lots of advances to improve medical male circumcision approaches that we as a country can adopt to improve our current male circumcision approaches. Non-surgical approaches are becoming more and more popular. We as a country need to promote such good practices in-country

As we drive towards a collective global goal for 2020 and 2030, I think it is important to highlight this gap.

We need to promote public understanding and support for medical male circumcision in our continued fight for HIV control in Nigeria.