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January 4, 2006

UK: Muslim Boys In Wales Circumcised In Unsterile Places, Without Anaesthetic

It is customary for Muslim boys to be circumcised, and in some North African countries this has been carried out by men trained as barbers. Since 1948, when the UK instituted the National Health Service, circumcision was dropped as a "recommended" procedure.

Some late 19th century medical experts had advised circumcision as a preventative measure, to stop boys being tempted to masturbate. These ideas, interpreted by people like John Harvey Kellogg in the US as "salutory for all men", led to the US custom of near-universal circumcision of males, irrespective of medical need.

The idea had caught on in the 1920s and 1930s in Britain, but is rarely practiced now. It is fun to have a foreskin - believe me! Religious circumcision as practiced by Jews happens on the eighth day of a boy's life. Jews were so married to this custom that edicts banning circumcision in the 1st century AD Roman empire exempted Jews. Generally Muslim children are circumcised before the age of five years.

Unfortunately for many young boys in South Wales who come from Muslim families, the UK National Health Service (NHS) policy of only circumcising boys for medical need is risking their health, possibly even risking the penis itself.

NHS treatment is free, and Muslims are expected to pay for their own circumcisions privately if there is no medical need. A report in the South Wales Evening Post states that Muslim boys in South Wales are being operated on in backrooms of Mosques, where they are being circumcised by doctors in non-sterile situations.

This practice has already led to infections, with boys requiring medical intervention, including hospitalisation for some in Swansea's Singleton Hospital.

Though the circumcisions appear to be carried out by doctors, the only anaesthetic administered is a spoonful of Calpol, which is normally only used for teething babies. Sometimes the boys are sent to Birmingham. These non-sterile, non-anaesthetised operations can cost parents 250 pounds ($450).

Now attempts are being made by Swansea Health Board and Swansea NHS Trust to set up a special clinic to perform the operations in a sterile medical setting where anaesthetics can be given.

Though set up under the aegis of the NHS, parents will still have to pay for the operation. It is unlikely (in my opinion) that the cost will exceed the amount they have already been paying for existing methods, with all the attendant risks of infection. The scheme has not yet been approved, but one hopes it is successful. The gruesome thought of a child being permanently damaged because such a service is unavailable certainly merits such a clinic.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 4, 2006 9:37 AM

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