Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
BMJ Open. 2013 May 28;3(5):e002802. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002802.
Male circumcision (MC) reduces HIV infection by approximately 60% among heterosexual men and is recommended by the WHO for HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. In northwest Tanzania, over 60% of Muslims but less than 25% of Christian men are circumcised. We hypothesised that the decision to circumcise may be heavily influenced by religious identity and that specific religious beliefs may offer both obstacles and opportunities to increasing MC uptake, and conducted focus group discussions to explore reasons for low rates of MC among Christian church attenders in the region.
Qualitative study using focus group discussions and interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Discussions took place at churches in both rural and urban areas of the Mwanza region of northwest Tanzania.
We included 67 adult Christian churchgoers of both genders in a total of 10 single-gender focus groups.
Christians frequently reported perceiving MC as a Muslim practice, as a practice for the sexually promiscuous, or as unnecessary since they are taught to focus on 'circumcision of the heart'. Only one person had ever heard MC discussed at church, but nearly all Christian parishioners were eager for their churches to address MC and felt that MC could be consistent with their faith.
Christian religious beliefs among Tanzanian churchgoers provide both obstacles and opportunities for increasing uptake of MC. Since half of adults in sub-Saharan Africa identify themselves as Christians, addressing these issues is critical for MC efforts in this region.
男性割礼（MC）可使异性恋男性感染 HIV 的风险降低约 60%，世界卫生组织建议在撒哈拉以南非洲地区将其用于 HIV 预防。在坦桑尼亚西北部，超过 60%的穆斯林男性接受过割礼，但不到 25%的基督教男性接受过割礼。我们假设决定割礼的因素可能受到宗教身份的强烈影响，而特定的宗教信仰可能既对增加 MC 的接受度构成障碍，也提供机会。为此，我们进行了焦点小组讨论，以探讨该地区基督教徒中 MC 率低的原因。
采用焦点小组讨论和解释性现象学分析的定性研究。
讨论在坦桑尼亚西北部姆万扎地区的农村和城市的教堂进行。
我们共纳入了 10 个单性别焦点小组的 67 名成年基督教男女会众。
基督徒经常认为 MC 是穆斯林的习俗，是性行为放荡者的做法，或者是不必要的，因为他们被教导要注重“心灵的割礼”。只有一个人曾在教堂听说过 MC，但几乎所有的基督教会众都渴望教会能讨论 MC，并认为 MC 可以与他们的信仰一致。
坦桑尼亚基督教会众的基督教宗教信仰既为增加 MC 的接受度提供了障碍，也提供了机会。由于撒哈拉以南非洲地区有一半的成年人自认为是基督徒，因此解决这些问题对于该地区的 MC 工作至关重要。
