A Focus on HIV Prevention
In regions where HIV prevalence is high, prevention of new infections is key to curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Male circumcision has been shown to reduce HIV transmission by up to 60 percent, as well as significantly reduce transmission rates of other sexually transmitted infections. As part of a comprehensive portfolio of HIV/AIDS service provision, counseling and testing, and community outreach, CMMB offers medical male circumcision.
In Action: South Africa
In 2012, CMMB South Africa is launching a comprehensive medical male circumcision (MMC) HIV prevention program for rural and under-served Sisonke District in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The project aims to deliver facility- and outreach-based safe, quality-assured medical male circumcision services to 80 percent of the eligible male population in the Sisonke District over five years. The goal of the CDC-supported project is to reduce HIV incidence and overall HIV acquisition risk through sexual transmission in the Sisonke District of KwaZulu-Natal by introducing and scaling-up medical male circumcision. The program will circumcise approximately 300,000 by its conclusion, with about 12,000 men circumcised in Year 1. The men will receive MC services as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package that includes HIV testing and counseling, STI screening, and HIV prevention counseling.
In Action: Kenya
CMMB’s Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) program has been active in Kenya since 2007. In addition to providing sterile, safe, medical surgeries for adolescent males, the initiative incorporates HIV/AIDS and life skills education for parents and siblings, counseling and testing, and on-going mentorship for young men. CMMB trains local healthcare professionals to carry out the program, which builds the local healthcare capacity and ensures sustainability.
In Action: Uganda
Safe male circumcision is offered as part of the Ugandan Ministry of Health’s comprehensive HIV prevention package, which promotes primary prevention methods as well as counseling and testing. CMMB provides technical assistance, including training for the surgeons, in additional to medical supplies for the program in Apac and Gulu Districts. As Uganda is a non-traditionally circumcising country, CMMB has sub-granted to local community-based partners Family Health Support Initiative (FAHSI) and The Organization for Developing People's Ability (TODEPA) to conduct awareness campaigns targeting district political and religious leaders. CMMB has helped provide over 1,000 safe circumcisions since the program's inception in September 2010.
In Action: Zambia
CMMB began offering VMMC services at the Mpanshya Mission Hospital in the Chongwe District of Zambia in July 2010. As in Kenya and Uganda, CMMB relies on the traditional community leaders to set a positive example and encourage uptake of circumcision and HIV counseling and testing services.
By the Numbers: 2010
Sites providing VMMC services: 31
Parents reached: 6,212
Circumcisions performed: 15,943
Individuals tested for HIV: 12,117
Girls educated in sexual health: 2,122
In the News
CMMB Works Closely with the Ugandan Government to Provide Circumcision Services
