Radio Correspondent Gets Circumcised to Fight AIDS

A Zambian radio correspondent opted to get circumcised on the air to protect himself and raise awareness about AIDS prevention. Researchers last year concluded that circumcised men are less likely to get HIV from vaginal sex.

Gondwe, who says he undergoes an AIDS test several times a year, said in an interview Friday he finds it "sad" that more people don't talk about circumcision as a prevention method.

"We as journalists also have a role to play in the fight against the disease," he said.

Gondwe, on the radio piece and in an online diary Friday, recounts his Nov. 22 procedure. Listeners can hear him gasp as a doctor injects him with a local anesthetic, but he assures them the procedure is otherwise painless. He was up, walking to his car and driving himself home soon afterward.

Gondwe and the radio station are receiving messages from offended listeners, but the AP piece doesn't tell us what it is that has offended them.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 04:41 PM

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