Milestone in HIV fight as 2,5m men are circumcised
ABOUT 2,5 million Zimbabwean men have been circumcised under the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programme, marking the attainment of a major milestone in the country’s fight against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
VMMC is the complete surgical removal of the foreskin from the male reproductive organ.
It is touted as a one-time primary prevention intervention that reduces the risk of HIV transmission from women to men by 60 percent.
Zimbabwe launched a VMMC campaign in 2009, which targeted to reach 1,3 million men aged between 15 and 49 by 2015.
Speaking at a side event during the recently held International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, the director of the AIDS and TB Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Owen Mugurungi, said the development reflects the country’s commitment to fighting HIV and AIDS.
“We have circumcised more than 2,5 million persons . . . not as well as our neighbours up north, but we have also managed to get close to 80 percent of the required numbers that we needed to circumcise,” he said.
“As a nation, we are committed to the provision of VMMC as part of our combination of HIV prevention strategies, with circumcision playing a vital role.”
Experts believe the success of VMMC was driven by strong support from Government and robust community engagement by the authorities to raise awareness on the benefits of the programme. The rollout of mobile clinics enabled the programme to reach men in remote areas, while training of healthcare workers to provide safe and effective VMMC services also proved effective.
Meanwhile, Government has finalised crafting the draft national HIV sustainability roadmap to guide future efforts to combat the virus.
Added Dr Mugurungi: “I am happy to say that we now have a draft HIV sustainability roadmap for Zimbabwe.
“There were key enablers that assisted us in this work and one of those was the strong political commitment and leadership that we have from all levels of Government and community.
“We also had multi-sectoral coordination through various platforms, where we worked with people across different sectors and communities.”
Since VMMC was recommended by the World Health Organisation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS in 2007 as key to HIV prevention in high prevalence settings, at least 35 million men have accessed services across 15 VMMC priority countries in East and Southern Africa.