To reduce the incidence of HIV in Zambia, the Ministry of Health with its cooperating partners are implementing several interventions to help increase awareness and establishing environments conducive for the rapid scale-up of male circumcisions to 1,985,083. Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) therefore, remains happy to support and continues to provide the necessary technical assistance to help meet the VMMC targets in Zambia.

With support from CIDRZ, Lusaka Provincial Health Office (LPHO) organised a soccer gala in Luangwa District of Lusaka Province as part of their planned series of aggressive demand creation activities to reach the Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) key age bracket (15-29 years). The objective of the Soccer gala was to bring members of the community together and offer them services which included VMMC and HIV Testing Services (HTS).

VMMC remains part of the comprehensive HIV prevention interventions and helps reduce transmission by 60%, for male partners. Additionally, it helps reduce chances of acquiring cervical cancer in women among so many other benefits.

In Zambia, Soccer is a known crowd puller in most communities and provides an opportunity for both women and men to gather in one place. Eight teams participated in the gala upon meeting the inclusion criteria. The teams were requested to assist the Male Circumcision (MC) Program in the district to mobilise at least 20 clients each to gain entrance into the tournament. After a highly competitive event, the winning teams walked away with various prizes which included a trophy, footballs, and new football jerseys.