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Whether for health or hedonism, men are coming round to male circumcision, which can reduce the risk of HIV by up to 60%
After a month in recovery, Swazi-born soccer star Dennis “Yuki” Masina cannot wait to get back between the sheets with his newly circumcised penis.
However, the 33-year-old former Mpumalanga Black Aces midfielder will have to wait another two weeks, as it takes six weeks to recover following adult-circumcision surgery.
“I cannot wait to have sex again. Yes, I believe that sex will be even better. And my girlfriend is very excited too,” he said.
After hanging up his professional soccer boots to start coaching in January, Masina is now also using his celebrity status to urge men to get the cut.
On March 21, Masina was accompanied by his girlfriend of four years, Junior Litelu, to the Zola government clinic in Soweto, where he was injected with a local anaesthetic and hauled into surgery for the 10-minute operation.
Circumcision is minor surgery to remove the foreskin, or the skin around the head of the penis.
“They were happy to see me at the clinic, and I was happy to see them too,” he told City Press.
“They were very professional. I was given one injection; there was no pain after that.
“Following the operation, they gave me tablets to take home for the pain, but there was none really.”
Masina and Litelu share a flat in Johannesburg.
Born in the Swazi capital of Mbabane, he started his career with the Manzini Wanderers in 1998.
He moved to South Africa after being recruited by the Bush Bucks in 2000, and following a stint in Europe from 2004 to 2006, got signed with Orlando Pirates, and then with Mpumalanga Black Aces.
In March, Masina became the new ambassador for the local voluntary medical circumcision organisation Chaps, which encourages men to get the snip to protect themselves and their lovers against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
Meanwhile, Masina’s former teammates, Reginald Motsa and John “Shisa Junior” Mdluli, and the manager of the Black Aces youth team, Mandla Soko, have followed his example, all undergoing the operation in the past month.
The procedure was introduced at South African public clinics for free in 2009.
Based on department of health figures published in October 2015, Rachael Rawlinson, prevention programme manager at local HIV management organisation CareWorks, estimates that 2.3 million South African men are circumcised today.
Scientists note that the inner foreskin is rich in Langerhans cells – or “HIV target cells” – thus increasing the likelihood of male infection after sexual exposure to an HIV-positive partner.
Rawlinson says studies have shown male circumcision can reduce the risk of HIV infection by up to 60%, along with the risk for a man’s partner of contracting other sexually transmitted infections such as genital herpes and the human papilloma virus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer in women.
What’s more, experts say some men are taking the cut for aesthetic reasons, or to improve their sex lives.
“There is a growing body of evidence worldwide suggesting that women prefer to have sex with a circumcised male partner,” said Rawlinson.
Worldwide, this is a hotly contested issue, with some lambasting circumcision for removing pleasure-giving nerve ends from the penis.
The big question remains: Does circumcision reduce penis sensitivity? This week, a study published by Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, claimed the answer is no. But the study sparked ample criticism.
A growing school of thought argues that the decision to circumcise is indeed best left to adult males, who are old enough to decide whether they would prefer to experience sex and masturbation with a foreskin or without, given the benefits of reduced health risks.
To find out where to get a free medical circumcision, send a ‘please call me’ to 0606 800 800, and a counsellor will get back to you
