Nepal records 4.2% total-population male circumcision prevalence (Morris 2016), confined to the Muslim minority (~4-5%). Two peer-reviewed studies from Arghakhanchi District (2011) document near-100% Hazam (traditional non-health-worker) circumciser reliance, non-sterilized knives, ghee-and-ash wound care (95% of households), and near-zero hospitalization. The Hindu (~81%), Buddhist (~9%), and Kirant (~1.5%) communities do not practice circumcision.
Nepal records 4.2% total-population male circumcision prevalence (Morris 2016, PMC4772313). Nepal is approximately 81% Hindu, 9% Buddhist, 4-5% Muslim, and 1.5% Kirant — circumcision is practiced by the Muslim minority only. The Hindu majority, Buddhist communities, and Kirant indigenous groups do not practice male circumcision. Nepal became a secular republic in 2008 (abolition of the Shah Hindu monarchy) and adopted a new constitution in 2015; there is no statute specifically governing non-therapeutic male circumcision.
Two peer-reviewed studies from Arghakhanchi District in western Nepal (Paudel & Mehata 2011, NepJOL; Paudel et al. 2011, Italian Journal of Public Health) document traditional circumcision practice in that district's Muslim community. Key findings confirmed across both studies: circumcision is performed "nearly 100% by Hazam" — a traditional circumciser who is not a trained health worker; hospitalization for the procedure is "almost absent"; non-sterilized knives are the standard Hazam instrument; 95% of households rely on traditional wound care (ghee-and-ash suspension applied to the wound); only 5% use modern medicines; and only 22% seek health institutions during post-circumcision care. These practices document a risk profile for infection, tetanus, and bloodborne pathogen transmission. No Nepal-specific circumcision mortality or injury case series was confirmed.
An important caveat applies to these findings: both studies cover a single VDC (Pali village development community) in Arghakhanchi District with small samples (n=64 households; no sample size disclosed for the NepJOL article). This is a hill-district Muslim community in western Nepal; Terai (lowland plains) Muslims — who border India and may have different healthcare access — are not covered by these studies. The data is from 2011 and may not reflect current practice. The findings cannot be extrapolated to Nepal's Muslim community as a whole.
Nepal HIV prevalence is approximately 0.1% (UNAIDS 2023), with a concentrated epidemic predominantly in PWID, MSM, and sex-worker communities. Nepal is not a WHO VMMC priority country.
