KwaZulu-Natal'€™s health department is using a plastic device in its mass male circumcision drive that speeds up the procedure but has significant side-effects in adult men.

Medical male circumcision now forms part of government'€™s policy to reduce new HIV infections. '€œBy 2011, medical male circumcision must be practiced all over South Africa'€, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi announced recently when he detailed new protocols for TB and AIDS treatment which came into effect on April 1.

In the last '€œLiving with AIDS'€ feature we heard how young men in Orange Farm, situated in the south of Johannesburg, are taking to medical circumcision in their hundreds. This week, we hear the reasons fuelling their enthusiasm.

Young men in Orange Farm, a sprawling township south of Johannesburg, are lining up for medical circumcision in large numbers ahead of government moves to add the intervention to its HIV prevention basket. Khopotso Bodibe witnessed a young man's procedure and spoke to him afterwards.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has welcomed King Goodwill Zwelithini'€™s announcement this weekend that he supports medical male circumcision and will encourage his followers to undergo the procedure which could prevent up to 60% of men acquiring HIV.