Operations Research on Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention

Studies conducted under the ideal conditions of a clinical trial have shown that being circumcised can reduce a man's risk of acquiring HIV. Now operations research is underway in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa to determine how to provide male circumcision services safely and effectively in real-world settings.

Approaches to operations research are context-specific and take country- and community-level conditions into consideration. Overall, this kind of research is designed to develop models for providing male circumcision services in a variety of settings. Operations research will also identify specific lessons about service delivery, capacity building, and communication that can be applied in programmes throughout sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

Some of the key operations research questions are:

• What are the most effective and cost-effective ways of integrating male circumcision services into existing HIV programs?
• Which messages are most effective in conveying to clients and their partners that male circumcision is an additional HIV prevention option, and not a replacement for correct, consistent condom use and other risk-reduction measures?
• What are the most effective and cost-effective approaches to training and supervising staff to provide male circumcision services?
• What are the most effective and cost-effective ways to maintain and monitor the safety of the procedure in different resource-constrained settings?
• What are the most effective strategies for including private-sector providers in programmes that offer male circumcision for HIV prevention?
• What is the feasibility and the cost of training clinical officers and nurses to provide safe, high-quality male circumcision services?
• What is the impact on access and safety of offering male circumcision through outreach services?

Presentations from an international consultation on male circumcision for HIV prevention: operations research priorities

A two-day meeting, organised by the World Health Organisation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on 1-2 June, 2009 in Nairobi, brought together 33 scientists and public health experts from 11 countries (including eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa) to discuss operations research on male circumcision for HIV prevention, and to set priorities for the next two years. Considerable progress had been made since the first meeting on MC operations research in June 2007.
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Operations research report

WHO/UNAIDS. Male circumcision and HIV prevention: operations research implications. Report of an international consultation (2007, PDF, 522 KB). Nairobi, Kenya, 21-22 June 2007.