GENEVA (Reuters) – African health workers need moretraining and better tools to circumcise men and boys safely for HIVprevention, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) studychronicling “shocking” rates of complications.

As many as 35 percent of males circumcised by traditionalpractitioners in Kenya’s Bungoma district suffered complicationssuch as bleeding, infection, excessive pain and erectiledysfunction from the procedure, the WHO researchers found.

“Other common adverse effects reported were pain upon urination,incomplete circumcision requiring recircumcision, and laceration,”they wrote, estimating 6 percent of patients had life-long problemsas a result.

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