South Africa Area Continues Use of Controversial Circumcision Tool
An advocacy group wants to know why a South African province health department is continuing to use a male circumcision clamp not approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
A report in The New Age said the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) formally lodged a protest against the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) health department after learning of the use of the Tara KLamp device in that region. TAC said the clamp was not approved by the WHO because it failed clinical tests.
"When we asked the department why they are still using a machine that failed research, they gave us unsatisfactory reasons. It is for that reason we went to the public protector," TAC provincial chairman Patrick Mdletshe said in the report.
The device is made in Malaysia and works by clamping the foreskin so the blood supply is cut off, according to the report. TAC has been campaigning against the use of the device since the KZN started using it a few years ago.
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