Page 123 - SAHCS HIVMed Journal Vol 20 No 1 2019

Page 5 of 6 Original Research

TABLE 1: Participants’ perceptions towards voluntary medical male circumcision.
Perception Agree Disagree Don’t know
n % n % n %
Medical male circumcision reduces the size of the penis 15 4.67 248 77.26 58 18.07
Medical male circumcision decreases sexual satisfaction 32 10.00 242 75.63 46 14.38
Medical male circumcision proves that an individual is a real man 84 26.17 183 57.01 54 16.82
Women prefer circumcised sexual partners to uncircumcised partners 188 58.57 59 18.38 74 23.05
Medical male circumcision violates the principles of traditional male circumcision 54 16.82 174 54.21 93 28.97
Medical male circumcision makes the penis more vulnerable to environmental hazards 46 14.33 170 52.96 105 32.71
Circumcised men enjoy sex more than uncircumcised men 199 61.99 51 15.89 71 22.12

than uncircumcised men, about 61.99% agreed with this participants, especially in relation to its role in partial HIV
statement. In terms of whether women prefer circumcised protection. In our study, only 18.4% of the participants
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sexual partners to uncircumcised partners, about 58.57% claimed that they learnt about VMMC from the radio; while
agreed. Further, about 54.2% disagreed that VMMC violates about 15.6% learnt from newspapers. About 38.3% learnt
the principles of traditional male circumcision (as indicated about VMMC from clinics/hospitals, and 27.1% and 13.7%
in Table 1). from friends and posters, respectively. We also noted that
these findings are similar to a study conducted in Zimbabwe,
Discussion which indicated almost the same sources of information to
Uptake and barriers towards voluntary medical their participants such as radio, television, newspaper and
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male circumcision billboards.
In our study, a significantly higher (78.2%) proportion of Some health benefits associated with voluntary
participants had undergone VMMC. This figure is above the medical male circumcision
one recorded by HEAIDS in Southern Africa in 2014, which
indicated that about 66.0% of the students were circumcised, There are certain health benefits associated with being
bearing in mind that our study was conducted three years circumcised, which include the reduced risk of acquiring
later. These developments may also be an indication of a HIV, cancer, and STIs, in addition to an increased level of
rapid scale-up of VMMC promotion and awareness by non- penile hygiene. In all of these aspects, a significantly high
governmental organisations (NGOs) targeting young people proportion of the participants in our study rightly
within the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District. On another note, acknowledged these benefits in the following percentages:
around 21.1% participants in our study reported fear of 82.2% indicated that VMMC increases penile hygiene; 95.6%
complications, and 16.1% said they fear pain following reported that VMMC reduces the risk of STIs; and 92.2% said
VMMC. These findings are consistent with findings in most that VMMC reduces the risk of penile cancer. These ratings
literature of these barriers associated with VMMC. For are closely similar to other findings conducted in a number of
instance, these barriers (fear of pain, concerns around safety studies within the African region in terms of VMMC and its
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issues, and the costs) were mentioned by participants in health benefits such as in Botswana; South Africa; 24,27,28
related studies. 1,20,23,24,25 Our findings indicated that about Zimbabwe; and Kenya. 23
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47.7% of the participants reported one sexual partner, and
35.5% had two or more sexual partners. Of note, students Perception regarding voluntary medical
who had undergone circumcision were more likely to have male circumcision
one sexual partner (53.3%). This is an indication that there In terms of perception towards VMMC, our study results
was a limited presence of risky sexual behaviour among the revealed that only 14.3% of the participants reported that
participants in our study.
VMMC makes the penis more vulnerable to environmental
hazards, while only 10.0% reported that VMMC decreases
Voluntary medical male circumcision sexual satisfaction. Such perceptions from students are
awareness among students
consistent with some studies conducted among university
The high proportion (90.3%) in terms of good awareness on students in Zimbabwe, which revealed that only a minority
VMMC issues among students in our study seems to be in of them were willing to be circumcised. Further, a cross-
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line with the findings of a study conducted among university sectional study that was conducted among adults in rural
students in Botswana, where they found that 95.4% had good Uganda revealed some negative perceptions towards
knowledge about VMMC. In terms of VMMC’s protective VMMC. However, there is evidence that such negative
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role against HIV, we noted that participants lacked knowledge perceptions towards VMMC may be minimised in societies
(30.8%) on this aspect. This is consistent with related findings through the involvement of community leaders and religious
in studies, such as those in Botswana and Uganda, whose groups in aspects of VMMC education and promotion. Our
findings revealed that there was still a knowledge gap among study also revealed that students who were circumcised
students about such aspects regarding sexual matters and were more likely to have a positive perception towards
VMMC. 5,18 In contrast, Engle and others conducted a study in VMMC than those who were uncircumcised at 91.8% and
Kenya, which showed increased awareness of VMMC among 8.2%, respectively.

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