Circumcision : Watch Out For Charlatans

Jean Bita is a retired nurse in Yaounde. He is specialised in the circumcision of male children. Currently, Mr Bita is busy in the act of circumcision given that it is holiday period. Jean Bita tells Cameroon Tribune that the moment government took measures to close down schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many parents already solicited him and health centres to carryout circumcision on male children. From April until now, Jean Bita has circumcised over 50 children. Either this took place at his home, the home of the child’s parent or in the health clinic he use to work as a nurse. 
Most of the children Jean Bita has circumcised are newborns, between two weeks and one month.  He however says that the age to circumcise a child depends on the tribe. Those from the English speaking Regions of the country as well as those from the West Region circumcise their children when they are still babies. Others, such as those in the Centre Region circumcise their children after three years whereas those in the Northern Region do so when the person is an adult. Jean Bita explains that with the medical training he acquired, he carries out only medical method of circumcision with all the equipment required such as betadine and a particular thread for stitching. In a day, Jean Bita can carry out five to 10 circumcisions. After every two days, he does treatment of the wound, which could take two weeks to heal, or less depending on the nature of the individual’s body. According to Mr Bita, payment for his job depends on the individual. According to him, some people pay in cash (FCFA 5,000 to 10,000 while others pay in kind (a bunch of plantain and chicken). 
However, in different health facilities, the rate of circumcision now has dropped. At the Yaounde Central Hospital, Cameroon Tribune gathered, that circumcision is an everyday job of a urologist. Before now, many parents took their children for circumcision during this period.  A medical staff in the hospital says the number has dropped significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic where all non-emerg...