Perceptions and knowledge of voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention in traditionally non-circumcising communities in South Africa

Abstract

Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) has been recommended for the prevention of HIV transmission, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Uptake of the campaign has been relatively poor, particularly in traditionally non-circumcising regions. This study evaluates the knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical male circumcision (MC) of 104 community members exposed to promotional campaigns for VMMC for five years. Results show that 93% of participants have heard of circumcision and 72% have heard of some health benefit from the practice. However, detailed knowledge of the relationship with HIV infection is lacking: 12.2% mistakenly believed you could not get HIV after being circumcised, while 75.5% believe that a circumcised man is still susceptible and another 12.2% do not know of any relationship between HIV and MC. There are significant barriers to the uptake of the practice, including misperceptions and fear of complications commonly attributed to traditional, non-medical circumcision. However, 88.8% of participants believe circumcision is an acceptable practice, and community-specific promotional campaigns may increase uptake of the service.

Voluntary medical male circumcision and sexual practices among sexually active circumcised men in Mzuzu, Malawi: a cross-sectional study

“…A study conducted done in South Africa showed that 75.5% of participants understood the partial protection offered by VMMC a percentage slightly lower as compared to this study [32] while another study conducted in Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland showed that 9.0-15.0% of the participants believe that circumcised men are fully protected against HIV compared to 12.7% from this current study [33]. Almost all of the participants reported the need to continue using condoms post VMMC and that one can still transmit the virus despite having undergone VMMC.…”

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision and Sexual Practices among Sexually Active Circumcised Men in Mzuzu, Malawi: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…A study done in South Africa showed that 75.5% of clients understood the partial protection offered by VMMC a percentage slightly lower as compared to this study [30]. A similar study conducted in Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland showed that between 9 and 15% of the clients believe that circumcised men are fully protected against HIV compared to 2.5% from this current study [31].…”

“…(Table 7) On transactional sex, age, marital status, location and occupation were significantly associated with engaging in transaction sex. The odds of being involved in transactional sex among those aged [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] was 81% less compared to those aged 18-29 (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.09, 0.37 p <0.0001). The odds of being involved in transaction sex among the married ones was 88% less compared to those that were single (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.07, 0.22 p <0.0001).…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of male circumcision for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention among voluntary counselling and testing clients in a centre in northern Namibia

“…These results are similar to those of studies done in non-circumcising communities in South Africa, where was found that 93.3% had heard about circumcision, although only 23.3% of respondents were circumcised. [26] The awareness of MC in this study may be attributed to the announcement of the South Africa, Kenya and Uganda RCTs on the association between MC and HIV infection [6,7] and the announcement by the Namibian government to embark on the introduction of safe MC to the public in 2008. The association between MC and health benefits (reduced risk of HIV and STIs, penile hygiene enhancement) was prevalent in this study.…”