40,000 Kenyans Circumcised in Dec. 2010

More than 40,000 Kenyan men and boys were circumcised in December in a push by the government and the World Health Organization to prevent HIV by encouraging the procedure.

According to The Daily Nation, Kenya is the most cooperative of the 12 countries involved in the WHO's program when it comes to the rate of voluntary circumcisions. More than 45% of those who were circumcised were younger than 15. However, the program targets males age 15 or older because they are considered to be old enough to be sexually active.

Kenyan public health minister Beth Mugo said the country is currently leading the world in voluntary male circumcisions to prevent HIV, an important step as the procedure has been shown to reduce the rate of HIV infection by 60%.