Zambian chief touts adult circumcision

Jonathan Eshiloni Mumena will eagerly tell you about his ivory Star of David ring and the Texas flag on his tie. But Mumena’s real passion has recently turned to advocacy for adult circumcision to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

In some African countries, tribes have shunned circumcision because it was seen as a Muslim practice or was simply considered primitive. “We thought they were born differently and had to reconfigure the way they were,” said Mumena, interviewed in Lusaka, Zambia, as part of the International Reporting Project.

The tribal chief was not prepared for his son’s declaration that he wanted to get circumcised. Mumena then read the pamphlets on circumcision’s health benefits, which argue that the procedure cuts HIV transmission by 60 percent, and agreed with his 18-year-old son.