New HIV Prevention Campaign Moving Ahead: More than 2,000 Tanzanian Males Circumcised

Feb 7, 2011

As of last week, 2,105 boys and men were circumcised during the first nine days of a three-week male circumcision campaign in Tanzania’s Shinyanga region. Male circumcision services, which are part of an IntraHealth International-led HIV prevention effort, started in late November 2010 and have now reached 2,795 boys and men out of the 25,000 the project aims to reach by September 2011.

Circumcision can reduce a man’s risk of being infected with HIV by a female partner by as much as 60%, according to the World Health Organization. Among the most recent group of Tanzanian boys and men circumcised—most between the ages of 15 and 25—eight experienced minor adverse affects following the procedure, but within a week were treated and doing well. All of the clients were offered HIV counseling and testing as a part of the program, and fewer than 2% were living with HIV.  

The campaign took place in three of the five sites it was initially planned for and where there was high demand from the community—Muungano Health Center, the village office in Dutaw, and Ngulyati Health Center. “We did not want to keep clients waiting for a long time,” explained Lucy Mphuru, director of IntraHealth’s Provider-Initiated Testing and Counseling Project. “We will cover the remaining two sites in March.”

In collaboration with Jhpiego, the project has also trained a total of 36 health workers to perform male circumcision for HIV prevention.

The Provider-Initiated Testing and Counseling Project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and led by IntraHealth International.


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3 Comment(s)

  1. Posted by Claudia on Feb 7, 2011

    Sure, let's circumcise the men so they are less likely to use a condom and therefore more women become infected.. I have issues with this whole campaign as it's just going to create a culture of less condoms-which are far more effective at preventing HIV. While we are at it why not remove tonsils and appendices to stop tonsillitis and appendicitis.. Circumcise for personal beliefs, not as a flawed public health campaign.

  2. Posted by Boniphace on Feb 15, 2011

    Dear Claudia, The ongoing male circumscion campaign is not occurring in isolation from the other known HIV prevention methods. HIV prevention messages that include Abstenence, Be faithful to one partner, use of Condoms and HIV Testing and Counselling, are similarly effectively delivered in the same settings. And infact male circumscion promotes condom use because a condom is easily applied on a circumcised penis than un-circumcised one.

  3. Posted by Claudia on Feb 15, 2011

    Dear Boniface, I am well aware that the ABC's continue to be promoted in the fight against HIV protection, but I cant help thinking that this will result in reduced condom use in certain population groups. I live in Kwa_Zulu Natal, South Africa where the department of health has recently also launched a circumcision campaign. Despite free condoms, massive health campaigns, HIV continues to plague the general population. On the ground the vast majority of men still admit to intercourse without condoms and the majority of Zulu women (in a patriarchal society) are still disempowered when it comes to their sexual rights. Voodoo reigns supreme and many men still believe that sex with virgins will cure them etc.. I cant help feeling that the message taken from the campaign will not be - circumcision reduces your chances of HIV, but its still important to condomise, but rather just circumcision reduces the risk of HIV. As men have admitted to being reluctant to use condoms due to reduced sensation already. Also noteworthy is that the US where the majority of babies are circumcised has a much higher incidence of new HIV infections when compared with most of europe (where circumcision is less common)