Primary Care and General Pediatrics

Biography

Biography: Mbuyiselo Douglas

Abstract

Every year there are reported deaths of AmaXhosa male circumcision initiates, especially in the region of Pondoland in the Eastern Cape, a province in South Africa. These deaths are in particular due to complications such as dehydration, sepsis and gangrene. The primary purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions and knowledge of boys about the underlying determinants related to circumcision deaths and complications. A qualitative approach with exploratory and interpretive components was followed. A simple random sampling was used to select 3 focus group discussions with 36 circumcised boys. A purposive sampling was used to select 10 key informants for semi-structured interviews. One question was asked from the participants: Why boys are dying in the circumcision initiation schools?  The Tesch’s eight steps data analysis method was used. The data was organised and prepared for analysis by first transcribing the interviews verbatim and then translating the transcriptions. Four overall themes were developed during data analysis:

(1) Unskilful and inexperienced traditional practitioners; (2) Assaults and torture in the initiation schools; (3) Restriction of fluids and food; (4) Action that should be taken to prevent the problem.  The inexperienced and unskilful traditional practitioners were identified to be the main cause of the problem. The preventive action was recommended to empower the target groups and thereby protect the children.