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Issue of the day: Papuan people reject circumcision

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The Jakarta Post
Fri, November 27, 2015

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Issue of the day: Papuan people reject circumcision

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strong>Nov. 25, 2015

Arguing based on religious belief, citizens and church leaders in Paniai regency, Papua, have rejected a local hospital policy of circumcising boys and men to help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Febur Mote, head of the Paniai regional hospital, said on Wednesday that several churches immediately destroyed the invitations flyers they received. He said that the predominantly Christian population of
Paniai was against circumcision because they believed that God'€™s creation must not be altered, and because the practice is widely believed to be something done by Muslims and not Christians.


Your comments:


Rock Hudson died in 1985, 31 years ago of AIDS after being infected with the HIV virus. 31 years ago! Freddy Mercury died in 1991, 25 years ago of AIDS after being infected with the HIV virus. The HIV virus was first recognized in 1981 '€” then it was called PCP (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia).

That was 35 years ago! Fast forward to 2015 '€” the Papua AIDS Eradication Commission '€œreveals'€ in the second-to-last paragraph of this article that people are infected with AIDS (not HIV).

This is just an introduction to the kind of backward mindset and low education level those in charge show in the article.

Now a quote from the last paragraph '€œ...WHO and UNAIDS argue that circumcising men in high-risk AIDS areas could reduce the risk of HIV infection.'€ They at least get it correct with the HIV part, but I want to direct your attention to the five-letter word '€œcould'€. This word is used to indicate a possibility but not a certainty.

What is of course certain is that the promotion of the usage of condoms, a good sexual education (which has nothing at all to do with '€œevil'€ porn!) or, even better, a decent general education with all the religious '€œrevelations'€ and pseudo morality (apart of the main focus on uniforms, flag parades, mindless rote learning of the Pancasila) as main subjects in the curriculum removed (or at least minimized) would reduce the number of HIV infections within a decade or so drastically. A lifetime guarantee on that one!

But of course religious indoctrination directly imported from Java and falsified information given by backward institutions such as the KPAD who don'€™t even get the name of the infection right will not do anything.

Doc Feelgood


Education is what is important. Explain to children/teens with appropriate language what sexuality is. That will avoid a lot of big issues, like early pregnancy, abuse of children and other health problems.

Another issue is that hospitals and clinics should only use equipment that can spread HIV once, and should not use needles twice or even more times just to save money.

Implement health education from qualified teachers at school. And doctors should also be involved for two hours a month, explaining these issues to children.

Phil France

Like all pleasures there is always a risk. We smoke and drink to enjoy ourselves despite the fact that it'€™s bad for our health. The same thing goes for sex.

Therefore the best way to avoid HIV and sexually transmitted diseases is via clear regulations. No sex at minimarts. No sex in public spaces like hospitals and malls. No sex sold to anyone below the age of 18. And most important, no commercials for sex, especially not on billboards in Jakarta.

Orang Biasa

Circumcision does not prevent HIV in any tangible sense. The evidence supporting that idea is loose at best.

Teach the masses how to use condoms and identify those already infected.

Nate76

Circumcised does not make someone a Muslim. Convincing a person to wear a condom should be easier than suggesting he get his penis cut.

Ranting

Circumcision does not prevent HIV, condoms do. On a side note, stop activities that imply Islamization.

Betawi Spring

Muslims have a compulsion to circumcise others because they themselves are circumcised. Non-Muslims and those who have the courage to think for themselves and not blindly conform can support each other in the use of condoms.

A closer examination of the excuses for avoiding condoms reveals that they are weak. Social change starts with a few people making it happen, one step at a time.

Ronald Goldman

It'€™s hard to accept that circumcision prevents HIV when 85 percent of US men who have died of AIDS were circumcised.

It'€™s also hard to accept, when the people who are spreading the pro-circumcision propaganda tell you that you still have to wear a condom. If you still have to wear a condom, why lose a part of one of the five most sensitive parts of your body at all? Why not just wear the condom, and keep all of your body parts?

The people of Papua are not wrong in this. Circumcision is not a good idea.

Billdonelly

Give people free condoms and safe-sex information. That is helpful. And there is no hidden religious agenda.

Papsjk

Harm reduction is far more likely to be adhered to than circumcision, which is all about control over others.  If you control the man'€™s sex, you control the man.

So it was pushed in the US military. My mother-in -law was head nurse of the army'€™s circumcision ward.

Frank McGinnes

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