Compensation can improve the uptake of key HIV prevention services in sub-Saharan Africa, results from two randomised studies show. Aidsmap reports that one of the studies, conducted in Kenya among 900 uncircumcised men ages 21 to 39, compared the effects of offering a food voucher worth $US 12.50, entry in a lottery to win prizes of greater worth, or a food voucher worth $0.060 (the... more
News & Events
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health is conducting camps to provide voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention in 11 health districts in South Africa through the end of July, RDM Newswire reports. Catering, accommodations, HIV counselling and testing, and VMMC services are provided free of charge over three days. The province’s top health official appealed to adult men who... more
Studies are under way to determine why HIV prevention methods such as voluntary medical male circumcision and prophylactic drug treatment have not been adopted as widely as they could have been, an article in the journal Nature reports. These implementation science studies aim to bridge the gap between efficacy in clinical trials and impact on the epidemic in “real-world” settings.... more
A new male circumcision device that does away with sutures, involves minimal bleeding and is disposable has been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO), The Times of India reports. Known as the ShangRing, it is the first such device to be prequalified by WHO for circumcision of adolescent boys ages 13 to 17 years as well as adult men. WHO has indicated that the device... more
In Namibia, the government’s hopes of having at least 80 percent of eligible men circumcised by the end of next year are dwindling, the Namibian Sun reports. Since voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services were launched in 2009, only 16,341 men (5 percent) have been circumcised. The country’s health minister noted that a rapid scale up of the VMMC programme is... more
The Rwandan Ministry of Health has decided to use the PrePex device for all voluntary medical male circumcisions (VMMCs) among men ages 18 and older except those who are medically ineligible. A commentary published in BMC Medicine reports that this decision is a key element of Rwanda’s VMMC strategy. The article describes how Rwanda is addressing the challenge of reaching 700,000 men with VMMC... more
The operational plan for Zimbabwe’s voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) for 2014-18 was launched in Mashonaland East on 29 January 2015. This video documents the launch event, provides background on the country’s experience to date, and describes the plan... more
A two-page fact sheet developed by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative summarises the evidence on the impact of health communication on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to voluntary medical male circumcision. It includes examples from Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and... more
An extensive review of proposed sustainable development goals (SDGs) has found that male circumcision for HIV prevention is among the most cost-effective health interventions, writes the founder of the Copenhagen Consensus Center in a commentary. The center asked 60... more
The Department of Health (DOH) of South Africa’s Western Cape Province and a managed care firm have joined forces to expand access to voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), Independent Online reports. Metropolitan Health Risk Management will cover the cost of VMMC... more
An infographic depicts evidence from three countries that community-based voluntary medical male circumcision campaigns combined with mass media promotion can change attitudes toward VMMC.
Offering men incentives in the form of food vouchers modestly increased the likelihood that they would become circumcised within a few months, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented at the AIDS 2014 conference. About 1,500 uncircumcised men in Kenya were randomly assigned to be offered vouchers worth... more
The World Health Organization reported a dramatic increase in the number of African men choosing to be circumcised, the Swazi Observer reports. About 5.8 million men have become circumcised in 14 eastern and southern African countries since 2008, and nearly half of those procedures were conducted in 2013. Attaining and then maintaining 80 percent coverage of male circumcision in the... more
Young women (ages 15 to 29) in a South African community who had sex only with circumcised men had a 20 percent lower rate of new HIV infections compared to women who had some or only circumcised partners, the International AIDS Society reports. Among women ages 15 to 49, the HIV incidence was almost 17 percent lower among those who had sex only with circumcised men. This study, ... more