Demographic

In 2007, the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland introduced a policy on male circumcision,which goal is to halt the spread of HIV infection to achieve an HIV-free generation in Swaziland. To meetthis objective, male circumcision services, as part of the national comprehensive HIV prevention package,will be available to men of all ages. However, to maximize the public health benefit for HIV prevention,the primary targets of the services are men who are HIV-negative, age 15-24, and newborn babies.The 2006-07 SDHS collected information on the prevalence of male circumcision and onattitudes relating to the practise. Table 12.7 provides information on the percentage of men age 15-49circumcised according to selected background characteristics. The table also shows the percentdistribution of circumcised men by the age when they were circumcised.Table 12.7 Male circumcisionPercentage of men age 15-49 who are circumcised and percent distribution of men who are circumcised by age atcircumcision, according to background characteristics, Swaziland 2006-07BackgroundcharacteristicPercentagecircumcisedNumber ofmenCircumcised men: age at circumcisionBelowage 1313-19years old20 ormoreyears Missing TotalNumber ofmencircumcisedAge15-19 4.2 1,323 84.2 8.8 na 7.0 100.0 5520-24 6.5 886 74.9 9.1 12.3 3.7 100.0 5825-29 7.9 624 72.1 11.7 16.2 0.0 100.0 4930-34 9.9 431 (55.3) (24.1) (20.6) (0.0) 100.0 4335-39 19.7 367 56.9 16.4 25.6 1.1 100.0 7240-44 12.5 269 (50.7) (20.3) (29.0) (0.0) 100.0 3445-49 11.9 256 (38.9) (7.4) (50.0) (3.6) 100.0 30ResidenceUrban 13.3 1,181 67.5 8.8 23.7 0.0 100.0 157Rural 6.2 2,975 61.3 18.1 16.4 4.3 100.0 184RegionHhohho 9.2 1,099 66.0 13.9 18.4 1.6 100.0 101Manzini 9.2 1,349 69.6 7.9 22.6 0.0 100.0 124Shiselweni 6.7 843 54.2 27.3 11.1 7.4 100.0 57Lubombo 6.9 865 58.9 13.3 24.4 3.4 100.0 59EducationNo education 10.0 316 (48.8) (12.6) (35.1) (3.5) 100.0 32Lower primary 8.0 470 (61.7) (19.2) (14.3) (4.8) 100.0 38Higher primary 6.7 980 65.2 14.7 13.9 6.1 100.0 66Secondary + 8.6 2,389 66.6 12.7 20.2 0.5 100.0 206Wealth quintileLowest 5.5 601 (42.8) (29.1) (16.3) (11.7) 100.0 33Second 6.3 665 (70.6) (7.8) (19.3) (2.2) 100.0 42Middle 6.1 856 (69.6) (16.9) (11.4) (2.1) 100.0 52Fourth 9.0 953 67.7 14.5 16.5 1.4 100.0 86Highest 11.9 1,081 62.8 10.2 26.4 0.6 100.0 128Total 15-49 8.2 4,156 64.1 13.8 19.8 2.3 100.0 341Note: Figures in parentheses are based on 25-49 unweighted cases.na = Not applicableEight percent of men age 15-49 are circumcised. Older men are markedly more likely thanyounger men to have been circumcised, with the rate peaking at 20 percent among men age 35-39 years.Urban men (13 percent) are more than twice as likely to be circumcised compared with rural men (6percent). The circumcision rate among men is slightly higher in the Hhohho and Manzini regionscompared with the rate in Shiselweni and Lubombo. Twelve percent of men in the highest wealth quintileare circumcised compared with 6 percent of men in the bottom three wealth quintiles.176 | Malaria and Other Health Issues