Moblising men in Malawi

When Malawian community mobiliser Ajasi Bamusi turns up at football matches, he is keen for halftime. “I negotiate with the team captain to use halftime to give a talk promoting voluntary male medical circumcisions (VMMC)," explains Bamusi in an article from the World Health Organization. The community mobiliser described his halftime talks during a session at the 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2019) in Kigali, Rwanda. The talks are part of a 15-country effort to encourage men and boys to opt for VMMC, which reduces the risk of acquiring HIV by about half. From 2008 to 2019, almost 23 million men and boys became circumcised in eastern and southern Africa, averting an estimated 250,000 HIV infections. VMMC is projected to prevent another 660,000 HIV infections in the next decade and can serve as an entry point to essential health services for men and boys (AllAfrica, 4 December 2019).