The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP) says over the first three months of this year, 24,104 boys have been circumcised in Tajikistan free of charge. 

There were 97,560 circumcisions performed in Tajikistan’s hospitals last year, according to the MoHSPP press center. 

On 2017, amendments were made in a 2007 law on traditions and rituals, which regulates private celebrations, including religious celebrations.  Under these amendments, a circumcision should be performed on boys under the age of 20 days and definitely in a hospital.  

The ban on the circumcision of boys outside hospitals by traditional healers took effect on January 1, 2019.  

In Tajikistan, a predominantly Muslim country, the circumcision of young boys is a long-standing tradition linked to religious beliefs.