Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) is known to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from  women to men by 60 percent. Realizing VMMC’s potential to contribute to reaching HIV epidemic control and other HIV global targets, the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) has been implementing several interventions to support the Ministry of Health in promoting and creating demand for VMMC services.

CIDRZ’s interventions include capacity-building programmes for health providers, community outreach programmes, and the introduction of the Shang Ring method of circumcision, which is said to make the VMMC procedure more comfortable for clients.

Katete District VMMC Programme Officer Misheck Mutale said CIDRZ has been a game changer in creating demand for VMMC services in the district. Misheck observed that, due to CIDRZ’s innovative strategies, traditional leaders, teachers, and other community leaders have joined the effort to promote VMMC services.

 He added that the introduction of the Shang ring method of circumcision was also crucial in promoting VMMC services as it gave clients an extra option aside from the already existing dorsal slit method. Misheck is also one of the beneficiaries of CIDRZ’s VMMC project capacity-building programmes.

Meanwhile, Shadreck Lungu, a VMMC Community Mobilizer of Chibolya Compound in Katete district, has commended CIDRZ for training him in Human-Centered Design (HCD), a training intended to prioritize the needs of VMMC clients as they interact with VMMC services.

Shadreck said the training has made his work easier as he is now able to identify information gaps quickly and disseminate appropriate information to different clients, allowing him to connect more people to VMMC services within a short time.

Since 2012, CIDRZ has been implementing its VMMC project in Lusaka, Southern, Eastern and Western Provinces, thereby aiding government’s efforts towards achieving HIV epidemic control.