“Circumcised men likely to die after 10 years,” says a post shared on Facebook in Uganda.
It claims research by “Deltas Clare, a US NGO” has concluded that “those who are circumcised are likely to die ten years after cutting the foreskin of their manhood”. This is because “the medication used for Circumcised men reacts after 10 years”.
The “Deltas Clare” report had found that “circumcision of men is part of the Western's plan to wipe out the African race”, it adds.
The post says the report was published on WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks, according to its website, “specialises in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials”.
There’s “compelling” evidence that male circumcision can help prevent the spread of HIV, according to the World Health Organization. “Male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60%,” the WHO says.
But does the “medication used” in circumcision kill men 10 years later?
A quick search for “Deltas Clare” on the WikiLeaks website came up with nothing. A Google search for the name only returns links to the claim, or fact-checks of the claim.
Prof Salim Abdool Karim, director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), told Africa Check that no medicine is taken for circumcision.
“At most, a person having a circumcision may take a common painkiller pill, if needed,” he said.
“In the history of medicine, there is no medication that ‘reacts after 10 years’ to kill a person,” Karim continued.
“Any evidence for such a claim would have to be published to be taken seriously. Such written evidence would then be very carefully scrutinised by scientists, doctors and medicines regulators. In this case, no evidence is provided and no evidence has been published.”
The false Facebook post is an almost word for word copy of an article that first appeared in the Zambian Observer on 18 August 2018. Africa Check has previously debunked other junk news articles by the Zambian Observer.
The article was later published in the Swazi Observer and on the site Spy Uganda. And news website Malawi24 has published a fact-check of the original article. – Africa Check
It claims research by “Deltas Clare, a US NGO” has concluded that “those who are circumcised are likely to die ten years after cutting the foreskin of their manhood”. This is because “the medication used for Circumcised men reacts after 10 years”.
The “Deltas Clare” report had found that “circumcision of men is part of the Western's plan to wipe out the African race”, it adds.
The post says the report was published on WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks, according to its website, “specialises in the analysis and publication of large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials”.
There’s “compelling” evidence that male circumcision can help prevent the spread of HIV, according to the World Health Organization. “Male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60%,” the WHO says.
But does the “medication used” in circumcision kill men 10 years later?
‘No medication taken for circumcision’
A quick search for “Deltas Clare” on the WikiLeaks website came up with nothing. A Google search for the name only returns links to the claim, or fact-checks of the claim.
Prof Salim Abdool Karim, director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), told Africa Check that no medicine is taken for circumcision.
“At most, a person having a circumcision may take a common painkiller pill, if needed,” he said.
“In the history of medicine, there is no medication that ‘reacts after 10 years’ to kill a person,” Karim continued.
“Any evidence for such a claim would have to be published to be taken seriously. Such written evidence would then be very carefully scrutinised by scientists, doctors and medicines regulators. In this case, no evidence is provided and no evidence has been published.”
Claim’s origins in junk news site
The false Facebook post is an almost word for word copy of an article that first appeared in the Zambian Observer on 18 August 2018. Africa Check has previously debunked other junk news articles by the Zambian Observer.
The article was later published in the Swazi Observer and on the site Spy Uganda. And news website Malawi24 has published a fact-check of the original article. – Africa Check
Republish our content for free
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment