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A parliamentary woman in Tanzania has suggested that an inspection be conducted to determine if her male colleagues are circumcised to help reduce the spread of HIV, reports the Mwanachi information website (in kiwashili).
Jackline Ngonyani said Thursday in parliament that all MPs who did not undergo the procedure would be circumcised.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), circumcision reduces by about 60% the risk that heterobadual men will contract HIV.
Ms. Ngonyani was supported by MP Joseph Selasini, who said that neighboring Kenya had submitted a similar proposal and that uncircumcised MPs had undergone the practice of cutting the foreskin of the penis.
His claim is false: there was no inspection of deputies in Kenya.
However, in 2008, some senior politicians voluntarily practiced circumcision in order to encourage men from their communities to submit to the procedure.
Tanzanian MP Joseph Kasheku opposed Ms. Ngonyani's proposal, saying it was rude and pervasive.
"Circumcised women also transmit HIV (…) so if we want to control circumcised men, we should also inspect women members to see if they have undergone FGM," he said.
Female bad mutilation, or FGM, is the deliberate cutting or removal of a woman's external badia.
The WHO describes it as "any procedure that injures female bads for non-medical reasons".
FGM can cause physical and mental health problems.
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