Posted by By Sun News Publishing on
A sixteen-year-old Kenyan boy is being treated in hospital after losing part of his penis in a circumcision ritual.
A sixteen-year-old Kenyan boy is being treated in hospital after losing part of his penis in a circumcision ritual. He suffered the accident during the Luhya people's circumcision festival in western Kenya when the circumciser's knife slipped.
Reporters say traditional circumcision often comes in for criticism because of the health risks but is a longstanding part of the Luhya culture. Doctors say he is in a stable condition but may require reconstructive surgery.
Medical officers at the Bungoma District hospital told the BBC that the tip of the boy's penis was chopped off by mistake when the knife wielded by the circumciser slipped. He has been undergoing surgery on Friday to prevent further bleeding.
They said it was thought that he would be able to urinate but may not be able to have sex in future.
Correspondents say reconstructive surgery is expensive and the boy may have to go abroad for surgery. Hospital officials said this was the first such incident this year and in previous years boys had been admitted with complications such as bleeding or infections. The boy's father said that it was an unfortunate accident but he would not be suing the circumciser for compensation.
"I have learnt a bitter lesson," he told the BBC. "I shall take my remaining two boys to be circumcised in hospital in future." A new programme has been launched to introduce circumcision in neighbouring Nyanza province to combat the spread of HIV and Aids. About 2.5 million of 32 million Kenyans are currently living with HIV/Aids. Cairo traffic (Photograph by Scott Klender/flickr)
Egypt's roads are some of the world's most chaotic and dangerous
Egyptian police say at least 11 people have been killed in a head-on collision on the day new laws came into effect aimed at bringing order to the roads. The accident, involving two minibuses and a lorry, happened south of Cairo. An estimated 6,000 people are killed in road accidents every year in Egypt and more than 30,000 are injured.
The new laws impose fines and other punishments for such things as driving without lights at night, and travelling on the wrong side of the road. Friday's crash happened when one minibus tried to overtake the other as they headed south from Cairo towards Asyut and collided with a gravel truck travelling in the opposite direction.
The BBC's Magdi Abdelhadi in Cairo says many Egyptians are sceptical about the changes, because even the existing regulations are not always enforced. Among the most controversial items of the new legislation is the requirement that all cars should have first-aid kits. "We are drivers not doctors," one taxi driver told the BBC.
"If a passenger is injured or has a broken bone, can someone like me help him? I will probably make things worse because I do not have the training." Reckless driving, poorly maintained vehicles and the failure to enforce existing regulations are often cited as main cause of road accidents in Egypt.
Many people say laws are applied selectively, on the poor and not on the rich and powerful. The stipulation that vehicles must have a specific kind of first-aid kit has fuelled a widely held belief that the law is designed to benefit well-connected businessmen rather than motorists.