Gambella, August 03, 2013(GSN) - The Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) program supported by Jhpiego and funded with PEPFAR grants through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Ethiopia has circumcised over 32,000 adult men in the Gambella region since October 2009. Since the launch of the VMMC program, there is an increase in the uptake of HIV counseling and testing as well as sexually transmitted infections detection and treatment with referral and linkage facilitation to ART services.
The milestone achievement follows four years of partnership with Gambella’s Regional Health Bureau implementing effective awareness creation campaigns and providing quality comprehensive VMMC services. The program’s objective is to reach an MC prevalence of at least 80% by circumcising more than 45,000 men (age 15-49) before 2015 to comply with HIV prevention recommendations by the World Health Organization and UNAIDS.
Studies show that circumcised men have a lower prevalence of HIV infection than uncircumcised men, and VMMC has been proven to reduce the risk of female-to-male sexual HIV transmission by roughly 60%. In addition, VMMC is cost-effective and fairly easy to implement, and statistic modeling shows that every 5 to 15 circumcisions avert one HIV infection in high HIV-prevalence settings like Gambella. The HIV prevalence rate in the region is 6.5%, the highest in Ethiopia. HIV transmission in the region is sustained by a low level of awareness, a high quantity of itinerant farm workers, and refugees from past conflicts in neighboring South Sudan, according to Ajim Othow, Gambella Regional HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (RHAPCO) officer.
Male Circumcision services started in three facilities in late 2009 and have grown to 26 sites including the Gambella Referral Hospital, and selected health centers. “When the program was launched, generating demand for VMMC services in an ethnically diverse community like Gambella where longstanding myths about male circumcision are common was a challenge,” says Tadele Bogale, Jhpiego Ethiopia’s Deputy Country Director. “However, through strong partnerships and with the help of local mobilizers who provide accurate information and dispel misconceptions about male circumcision in the local language, the program has shown significant stride towards achieving the target in five years’ time.”
