Zambia launches VMMC campaign

The Zambian government aims to circumcise 360,000 men and boys in 2019 as one of its interventions to reduce HIV infections, Zambian Eye reports. Speaking in Muchinga Province’s Chinsali District at the launch of an April campaign to promote voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), the province’s assistant secretary said VMMC is a cost-effective HIV prevention intervention. He called for market-oriented campaigns that address the factors that deter men from getting circumcised, such as fear of pain, perceived low risk of HIV, lack of partner or social support, and preference for traditional rites of passage. More than 2 million men and boys have been circumcised in Zambia since the VMMC programme began in 2007 (Zambian Eye, 2 April 2019).