Man hospitalised after circumcising himself

OSHAKATI MERJA IILEKA A 23-year-old man from Okatale in the Ohangwena Region stunned his community last week when he circumcised himself with a razor blade. The young man, whose name is being protected by hospital staff, allegedly sliced off his foreskin with the razor blade last week Wednesday at his village. After relatives realised what had happened, they immediately rushed him to the Odibo clinic, before he was transferred to the Engela District Hospital due to the seriousness of his condition. Shortly after he was admitted at the Engela District Hospital, the man was taken to the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital due to excessive bleeding. Namibian Sun has it on good authority that the young man is now being kept at Ward 3, but attempts to talk to him proved futile, after hospital staff refused the media entry to his hospital bed. The media was asked to refer all queries regarding the patient's condition to Ministry of Health and Social Services spokesperson, Esther Paulus. Paulus would neither confirm nor deny the incident, insisting that all patients at the hospital are protected. "We cannot give patient information whether it is on their condition or their identity. Those people have a right to privacy," said Paulus. Ohangwena police chief, Commissioner Tylves Kampolo, was not aware of the matter, but promised to follow up on the incident.