LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Over 100, 000 boys and men have received safe Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) services in Lilongwe district.
The exercised has been conducted since April 2016 to September 2019 through the Jhpiego led project IQ.
About 138, 481 against 150, 288 targeted boys and men have been circumstanced representing 92% since the inception of the exercise in 2016.
Jhpiego in close collaboration with Malawi’s Health ministry is implementing Quality Project under US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with funding from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFA).
The project being implemented in 30 Malawi Health Ministry facilities across Lilongwe aimed at scaling up the provision of quality VMMC services to boys and men in the age group of 15 to 30 years.
Jhpiego Country Director Hannah Gibson told the Project IQ 100,000th Male Circumcision Milestone and Achievements Dissemination meeting on Thursday in the capital Lilongwe that the exercise has met the intended target.
Gibson attributed the achievement to collaboration, partnership, community mobilization and among others.
She however observed that misconception of VMMC being a Yawo tribe norm not a health issue.
Lowford Palani Lilongwe District Commissioner lauded Jhpiego for coaxing men to embrace VMMC in reaching the target.
In Malawi, VMMC was adopted by Health Ministry as HIV prevention strategy in 2012 following WHO declaration in 2007.
Clinical trials conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa have shown that medically performed circumcision is safe and can reduce men’s risk of HIV infection during sex by 60%
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