JLE

Cahiers d'études et de recherches francophones / Santé

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Aspects of HIV risks and ritual practices in tropical Africa Volume 1, issue 4, Octobre-Novembre 1991

Authors
Centre de diagnostic du SIDA, hôpital Lariboisière, 75010 Paris, France. ORSTOM, Centre de Petit-Bassam, Abidjan, Côte-d’Ivoire, Service d’immunologie clinique, hôpital Édouard-Herriot, 69437 Lyon Cedex 03, France, ORSTOM, Montpellier, France.
  • Page(s) : 327-33
  • Published in: 1991

Some ancestral African rituals, such as male and female circumcision, scarification and blood brotherhood have been held as risk factors for HIV transmission. However, male circumcision can involve two levels of risk, since uncircumcised men may be at a higher risk of contamination by HIV and the risk will increase in the case of serial circumcisions (depending on the age of the children and on tribal practices). Female circumcision is commonly practiced among ethnic groups living between the Tropic of Cancer and the fourth northern parallel, with clitoridectomy among krio muslims (Sierra Leone), excision among the Bambaras and infibulation among the Sarakolés. Non-therapeutic scarification is generally practiced on the face during secret initiation ceremonies and is a means of recognition between ethnic groups. Therapeutic scarification can carry a risk of HIV transmission, especially when the same instrument is used on a number of patients and when these latter have symptoms of HIV infection. Pending rigorous seroepidemiological studies of these practices, the use of sterile instruments should be promoted by educational programmes involving community leaders and traditional healers.