KAMPALA, Uganda, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's threat to ban circumcision to curb the spread of AIDS is drawing strong opposition from traditionalists in his country.
The BBC said traditionalists say such a move would be regarded as interference in people's cultures and would be resisted strongly.
Only a small minority of Ugandans practice the circumcision of boys, but it is extremely common elsewhere in Africa.
Museveni is quoted by the government-owned New Vision newspaper as saying the cultural practice of circumcision endangers the lives of youths by spreading AIDS: "I do not care about losing votes ... I cannot look for votes from people who may die tomorrow after getting infected during the circumcision rituals."
Msazizi Karim, the secretary general of the Uganda National Council of Traditional Healers and Herbalists, told the BBC: "The practice of circumcision gives people their identity. ... Interference in people's age-old cultures will not produce the desired results. The traditional surgeons use herbs not only to cure their patients, but also to ensure the knives used are sterile."
