Intactivism News

Pulse.com (Ghana)

July 19, 2023

10-day-old baby dies during circumcision, KNUST Hospital accused of negligence

by Andreas Kamasah

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Hospital in Kumasi has found itself in a potential legal suit following the death of a 10-day-old baby who was taken to the facility for a male circumcision.

The parents of Faraj Mohammed have been left in shock, devastation and psychological trauma since the demise of their bouncing baby just minutes after they handed him over to the hospital staff for the procedure.

The bereaved parents are Mohammed Jamal, 36, who is a private security officer and Halimatu Adams, 27, a fashion designer. On April 3, they took their son to the KNUST Hospital for a male circumcision but had to face the difficult situation of having to return home without their newborn baby [who] had been full of life.

“The baby was 10 days old so we decided to send him to hospital for circumcision. Whilst at the hospital, they showed us the theatre. We met a nurse who examined the baby, undressed him and took off his diapers and told us everything was okay,” Mr Jamal recounted to JoyNews.

While waiting patiently to have their son back and return home with him, the couple heard a loud cry of the baby and it ceased. At that point, they became alarmed that something must have gone wrong. Some staff of the hospital approached to communicate with the couple but there were inconsistencies in their communication, which left them restless.

...

Not long after, Jamal and Halimatu were asked to get a hospital attendance card to prepare for the baby's admission. Then an ambulance was brought in a few minutes later to transport him to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for further treatment.

Realising that the bad news would have to be broken to the young couple, a doctor finally tried to psyche them up for it.

“I didn’t allow the doctor to finish what he was saying…I told him I think my child was dead…I felt something bad had happened to my son,” Halimatu said.

...The KNUST Hospital is reported as saying that the baby suffered a cardiac attack during the circumcision procedure.

Meanwhile, Advocacy for Medical Malpractice Victims, a patient-centred non-governmental group has taken up the matter to get justice for the bereaved couple.

Kwame Brobbey Appiah, the Executive Secretary of the organization ...[said:]

“From all indications, the hospital was negligent in the conduct of the circumcision. We believe strongly that we would be happy to establish a prima facie case,”......[T]he sector minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu bemoaned they have been receiving how legal suits emanating from alleged medical negligence almost every week. ...

The Ghana Health Service and the Medical and Dental Council are investigating the matter.

Intakt Norden

January 11, 2023

Genital cutting restriction introduced to Finnish Parliament

On January 11, 2023, a legislative motion from December 2020, regarding the protection of all children from genital mutilation regardless of sex, was taken to plenary discussion in the Finnish parliament.

The motion from 2020 was initiated by members of parliament (MP's) from the Finns Party only, and similarly, during the plenary discussion last Wednesday, only MP's from the Finns Party participated in the discussion.

[The Finns Party is a right-wing populist party, raising the suspicion that they are motivated less by a concern for human rights than by antisemitism and racism.]

The legislative motion was nevertheless passed on to the parliament's law committee for further discussion. The original motion text in Finnish, as well as a machine translation into English, is available in the posting below. Links are also provided to the discussion protocol from the plenary session, in Finnish original, as well as in a machine translation into English.