South African prisoners to be offered circumcision

Prisoners in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province are to be offered the chance to be circumcised in a bid to fight the spread of HIV in jail.



According to the region's health minister Sibongiseni Dhlomo 148 prisoners have already been circumcised.



KwaZulu-Natal has one of the highest HIV infection rates in South Africa.



Some studies suggest that being circumcised can help men halve their chances of contracting the AIDS virus.



The Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, recently lifted a traditional ban on circumcision, in a bid to fight HIV.



It had been prohibited by King Shaka in the nineteenth Century because he said it robbed him of young warriors for months at a time.