Acceptability of Male circumcision for HIV prevention in Kenya

Abstract

Three randomized control trials in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, demonstrated that there was a significant risk reduction of acquiring (sexually transmitted) HIV from women to men who are circumcised. Following these trials in 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) recommended the use of medical male circumcision (MC) for HIV prevention in eastern and southern Africa. However, the uptake of MC in countries with high HIV prevalence varies and the progress has been patchy. For example, only 3% of the targeted males in Lesotho have been reached, while 63% of the targeted males have been reached in Kenya (Gulland 2014). In this paper, the author explores the challenges and successes of MC for HIV prevention in Kenya.