31 boys dead in S. Africa from botched circumcisions

[SplitDik (imported)]

31 dead just in June!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 8bvpv0Fq2w

Botched circumcisions leave 31 dead in S.Africa

4 hours ago

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Thirty-one teenage boys have died from complications after botched traditional circumcision rites in South Africa's rural Eastern Cape region, officials said on Friday.

"Since the beginning of June, two deaths are being recorded almost every day," regional health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo told AFP.

"This is a grim situation that we deal with every year, the health department has rescued hundreds of boys from schools run by unscrupulous surgeons," he said.

Health authorities say the main causes of death which have been concentrated in the rural Transkei area are dehydration, hypothermia and excessive bleeding and that most boys only seek medical attention when it is too late.

Traditional circumcision is a rite of passage practised by the region's Xhosa clan, where boys from the age of 18 are banished to the bush for about a month and taught social values.

The bi-annual event culminates in a circumcision ritual which is performed without any anaesthetic, using traditional surgical tools.

Kupelo said the number of deaths had been slowly declining over the past five years since the health authorities started clamping down on illegal schools.

"Boys are still dying, some seasons we experience a surge, sometimes the numbers are lower," Kupelo said.

The 2008 winter season saw 24 deaths with some 535 initiates being admitted to hospitals with injuries and suffering from hypothermia.

"This tradition is meant to be like a graduation ceremony from boyhood to manhood, but illegal schools are admitting boys as young as 13 years," said Kupelo.

Deaths continue to plague this age-old tradition despite the passing of a Circumcision Act in 2001 which is aimed at regulating the practice.

Last month, a boy was admitted to hospital with a nearly severed rotting penis, after being cut by an untrained traditional surgeon.

[Hash (imported)]

This seems to be akin to the mostly African practice of female circumcision, which is not circumcision at all, of course. It's a ritualistic and ignorant evil practice that is wrong & dangerous. Educate and forcibly stop it. That's the problem in Africa, lack of education. Most of the people are ignorant and ignorance leads to stupid witch doctor practices. In this article we get a glimpse of circumcision that not only kills, but destroys the penises of some young boys. How sad for them. I think in this extreme situation where death is occurring, the tribe(s) who do this should be forcibly banned by the government and all practitioners arrested and jailed for an indefinite time period. Doesn't matter if its been practiced for hundreds of years, doesn't matter if it's a "cultural thing," if they're killing boys, it has to stop. Just as female circumcision must stop. Ugh! Just stupid. It a Darwin award winner. Just like the poor child who was strangled by the python in Florida. Stupid idiots! Why would you keep a dangerous snake that large in a house full of children? Another Darwin Award winner.

[PetJohan (imported)]

31 dead just in June!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 8bvpv0Fq2w

Botched circumcisions leave 31 dead in S.Africa

4 hours ago

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Thirty-one teenage boys have died from complications after botched traditional circumcision rites in South Africa's rural Eastern Cape region, officials said on Friday.

"Since the beginning of June, two deaths are being recorded almost every day," regional health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo told AFP.

"This is a grim situation that we deal with every year, the health department has rescued hundreds of boys from schools run by unscrupulous surgeons," he said.

Health authorities say the main causes of death which have been concentrated in the rural Transkei area are dehydration, hypothermia and excessive bleeding and that most boys only seek medical attention when it is too late.

Traditional circumcision is a rite of passage practised by the region's Xhosa clan, where boys from the age of 18 are banished to the bush for about a month and taught social values.

The bi-annual event culminates in a circumcision ritual which is performed without any anaesthetic, using traditional surgical tools.

Kupelo said the number of deaths had been slowly declining over the past five years since the health authorities started clamping down on illegal schools.

"Boys are still dying, some seasons we experience a surge, sometimes the numbers are lower," Kupelo said.

The 2008 winter season saw 24 deaths with some 535 initiates being admitted to hospitals with injuries and suffering from hypothermia.

"This tradition is meant to be like a graduation ceremony from boyhood to manhood, but illegal schools are admitting boys as young as 13 years," said Kupelo.

Deaths continue to plague this age-old tradition despite the passing of a Circumcision Act in 2001 which is aimed at regulating the practice.

Last month, a boy was admitted to hospital with a nearly severed rotting penis, after being cut by an untrained traditional surgeon.

I cannot resist commenting on this. I attended Med School at Groote Schuur which was the hospital and teaching facility at which the first heart transplant was done. When you mention unscrupulous surgeons who are running schools, you are identifying what has happened since the change in government. Now, if you "know the right people" you can get a license to practice a casual form of medicine and surgery based, I some times think, on reading a First Aid manual. The Government in Pretoria is anxious to put as many black people in positions of authority as is possible and in their mania, they are handing out commissions and jobs to persons who could not run their household. The latest disaster is the drought in Cape Town which now has the locals reduced to just over three gallons of water a day per person. And why did this happen? Well, because the Water Board who regulated usage of water was replaced by blacks who didn't know, apparently, that water had a finite point. They handed out water rights to anyone who asked for one, no limits were placed on usage and, Murphy's Law, Cape Town hit a severe drought. The reservoirs are virtually empty and there are no schemes to try and correct the situation. The new Water Board has returned to Pretoria to protest the criticism of their mis-handling of what has become a disaster. I was approached by a functionary of the government and told my family home would have to be turned over to someone who wanted an estate in Claremont. This kaffir had been driving through and thought, apparently, in his new role as commissioner of whatever, I ought to have a better home to match my status and saw mine. I fought back and have kept it but for how long?

For another side of black Africa, go to You Tube and look up the Zambians on the moon project. Their former President Kaunda was a great fan of Dancing with the Stars and told ABC he'd be happy to consent to be a guest dancer. Over a rock, they gave him an audition that was far beyond what he could do. Occasionally one can spot him in the audience probably still wishing that, gee, that could have been me out there.

Blacks have made themselves into all manner of professionals without one whit of training and that can be frightening. Medicine cannot be done by amateurs, even gifted amateurs. Having said that, I've a dear friend, a witch doctor in Durban who does spells.....