Ten lessons learned during the scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) could help speed expanded access to oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, write the authors of an article published in the International Journal of STDs & AIDS. Noting that efforts to scale up VMMC and oral PrEP services face many of the same challenges, the authors... more
News & Events
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention was highlighted in three presentations and 32 posters at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam from 23 to 27 July 2018. For a schedule of the VMMC presentations and links to summaries of the abstracts, click here.
Two million men and boys have been circumcised in Zambia since the government’s voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programme began in 2007, the Lusaka Times reports. In a speech read at the 3 August launch of a national VMMC campaign, a Ministry of Health official said that the 170,000 VMMCs performed this year as of 30 June represent 44 percent of the goal of 400,000 for 2018... more
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) was identified as one of four HIV interventions that are cost-effective in the most locations in a study of resource allocation among 13 interventions in 52 countries. The study, which was presented at the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam on 25 July 2018... more
More than 1 million men have been circumcised in Zimbabwe since the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programme began in 2009, ZimEye reports. The country missed reaching its goal of 1.3 million VMMCs by 2015 but is nearing that target now. According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, more than 1.1 million men have become circumcised, including 301,355 clients who sought and... more
A well-known actor’s circumcision kicked off the “Millionth Man Campaign” in ZwaZulu Natal, South Africa, City Press reports. Actor Melusi Yeni said he was happy to join the campaign to help reduce new HIV infections and described his circumcision as “hassle-free.” Having already circumcised 1 million men and boys, the provincial Department of Health (DOH) aims to provide voluntary... more
Better counselling of younger clients is needed to ensure continued progress in reducing new HIV infections through voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), Healio reports. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University surveyed 33 providers and 12 facility managers at 12 VMMC sites in South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe from June 2015 to September 2016 to identify successes as well as areas... more
The rate of new HIV infections has been reduced by 58 percent since 2011 in Uganda’s Rakai District, dropping from 3.97 per 100 person-years to 1.61 per 100 person-years, Aidsmap reports. Presenting at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2018) on 6 March, investigator Joseph Kayaagi said that... more
Research on the safety and acceptability of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) was presented in a poster session at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) on Tuesday, 6 March 2018. For links to the abstracts and posters from the session, click here.
A state-of-the-art mobile clinic is enabling Namibia’s Ministry of Health to bring male circumcision to men’s doorsteps, The Namibian reports. The only truck of its kind in the country, the mobile clinic has a fully equipped theatre devoted to performing voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention. It was first dispatched to the Erongo and Ohangwena regions because... more
KwaZulu-Natal’s top health official, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, committed to circumcising 1 million men in the province by April, The Citizen reports. He spoke at the homecoming centre for initiates who had been circumcised in Harry Gwala District. The Department of Health forged a partnership with the district’s traditional committee after realising that most male circumcisions were... more