GABORONE, May 28, 2009 (AFP) - The process of circumcising nearly half a million males in Botswana by 2012 will prevent almost 70,000 new HIV infections by 2025, a report published on Thursday said.
"Scaling up safe male circumcision has the potential to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in Botswana significantly," said a report published in the International AIDS Society journal 2009.
Researchers estimated that the process could cost the state about 47 million dollars (just under 34 million euros).
The report boosted government's newly launched campaign to circumcise 460,000 men, over the five years, in a bid to curb the spread of the disease.
The health ministry said the initiative was prompted by a series of studies which found that circumcised men were two to three times less likely to contract HIV.
Government is currently running television and radio campaigns to encourage men to visit clinics for safe circumcision procedures.
According to a UNAIDS report, HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Botswana was last measured at 43 percent in 2003.
The rapid spread of HIV and AIDS once threatened the survival of the approximately two million people of the land-locked southern African country, until the introduction of antiretroviral drugs in 2003.
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