For popular local actor Kagiso Modupe, getting circumcised next month is not so much about the effect it will have on his sex life, but for his wife’s health.
Modupe, 33, a Brothers for Life ambassador, is taking his health into his own hands and is calling on 2 000 men across the country to join him.
Modupe, loved for starring as Mangi Nyathi on the popular TV soap, Scandal, will undergo the procedure at the Katlehong North Clinic on March 11.
“There was a time when I was in university when me and my friends were just talking about doing it (getting circumcised)... I went to my doctor and he told me not to worry about it, that I didn’t really need to do it”, he said yesterday.
It wasn’t until he researched how it could protect his wife Liza from getting human papillomavirus (HPV) which caused cervical cancer, that he realised he needed to act.
“I’ve learnt in a recent survey of 100 000 men, 47% do it for hygiene reasons and 38% for HIV prevention. Circumcision reduced the risk of contracting HIV 60% as well as other sexually transmitted infections. Some men do it because it keeps the penis clean, and others because their partners prefer it, but whatever the reason, it’s the right thing to do,” he added.
Dr Khumbulani Moyo, medical male circumcision manager at the USAid-funded Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision consortium consisting of partners Right to Care, CHAPS and MatCH, said: “The public health benefits are significant. One HIV-infection can be prevented for every five circumcisions performed; it also reduces the risks of cervical, anal and prostate cancer."
Modupe said encouraging medical male circumcision was “a movement” for him, and one that should be about “promoting healthier lifestyles”. “Let’s be soldiers as men – if we claim we love our women, let’s show it."
Modupe said there were 200 clinics involved in #ZwakalaSkeem day and it would be free. He encouraged men to book a circumcision by sending a "please call me" to 082 808 6152 to secure a slot on #ZwakalaSkeem day at one of 150 clinics in Gauteng, KZN, Mpumpalanga and North West.