Rwanda’s Ministry of Health announced a major nationwide expansion of non-surgical adult male circumcisions as part of its strategies to reduce HIV/AIDS infections. A device called a PrePex was recently cleared for use. It will enable up to 700,000 men between the ages of 15 and 49 to be circumcised across the country. The device could revolutionize the way traditional circumcisions are perceived and performed. It will also save lives.
Six years ago, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS set a goal to have 20 million adult men voluntarily circumcised by the year 2015. It was part of an effort to reduce heterosexually acquired HIV/AIDS. The goal was based on clinical research that showed that an estimated 3.5 million lives would be saved, along with a savings of $16.5 million in long-term healthcare costs. To reach the target, a scaling-up process was needed.
Tzameret Fuerst is co-founder and president of Circ MedTech, the developer of the PrePex device, a non-surgical means to circumcise men. She said to date, about ten percent of the target goal has been met, and that they now have about two years to achieve the 20-million mark by 2015.
“On the supply side, Africa lacks the surgical infrastructure and human resources to scale up a surgical procedure,” said Fuerst. She offers the example of Rwanda, which has an 11 million people and only 582 physicians. “So it’s a real challenge for them to leverage the very few surgeons they have to scale up the surgical procedures.
“On the demand side, it is a tough sell to get men, healthy men, into a clinic when they have to undergo a surgical procedure and they’re fearful of the blood, and then the injections, and the loss of work,” said Fuerst.
