• FGD participants and guardians of boys between

10-14 years mentioned community mobilisers and

targeted outreach communication teams as

channels that helped allay fears about VMMC.

...the community mobilisers moved from one village to

the other and they were able to clarify the

misconceptions and the concerns we had about

VMMC in a more interactive way compared to the

other channels.

--Circumcised man ( 20-34) Bangwe

...the mobilisers and targeted outreach

communication teams gave us the chance to ask

questions and we got the responses and the

clarifications on our concerns about VMMC.

--Circumcised man (20-34) Chileka

• FGD participants further mentioned partners, and

friends as primary motivators for their decision to

circumcise.

…was encouraged by my partner for more sexual

excitement.

--Circumcised man (20-34) Bangwe

…decided to go for circumcision after I heard that my

friends went for circumcision at a facility within the

neighborhood.

--Circumcised man (15-19) Chilobwe

1 1 2 0 1 9 T H S T R E E T , N W | S U I T E 6 0 0 W A S H I N G T O N , D C 2 0 0 3 6 P S I . O R G

P S I ■ ■

Scaling up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision through

effective demand creation strategies in Malawi. AUTHORS: P. Mkandawire, M. Chitulu, I. Meja, R. Nyaleye, M. Kays

BACKGROUND

The Malawi National HIV strategic framework calls for

VMMC scale-up as an essential strategy for a

sustained impact on the AIDS epidemic. Enhancing

demand creation through innovative advocacy and

communication approaches is key to achieve this goal.

Between 22nd July and 6th September 2013,

PSI/Malawi, in collaboration with the Malawi

Government and with support from the United States

Agency for International Development, conducted a

VMMC demand creation campaign to support VMMC

service delivery in Blantyre. During the campaign,

PSI/Malawi achieved 105% (9969/9500) of its

circumcision targets with <1% adverse events (AE).

PSI/Malawi conducted a study after the campaign

aimed at understanding what led clients to undergo

circumcision and the media channels which were most appealing to the target audience.

• Participants highlighted a number of benefits that

influenced their decision to undergo VMMC like…

...It reduces the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted

infections including HIV by 60%.

--Circumcised man (15-19) Chilomoni

...It enhances hygiene in men around the genital area-

no smell.

--Guardian of (10-14) Nancholi

….It enhances sexual pleasure, women like

circumcised men.

--Circumcised man (20-34) Chileka

METHOD

• 8 focus group discussions (FGDs), each with 12

participants were conducted with men between

15-19 years and 20-34 years. Participants were

randomly selected from the VMMC registers.

• 5 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with the parents or

guardians for 10-14 year olds were also

conducted.

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

• This study highlights that the use of community

mobilisers and targeted outreach communication

teams during the campaign helped to allay fears

about VMMC and served as the catalyst to action.

Furthermore it is worth noting that partners and

friends are primary motivators as men decide to

under go circumcision.

• To scale up VMMC demand creation, efforts should

adopt an integrated approach with an emphasis on

interpersonal communication strategies like

community mobilization and targeted outreach

communication. This approach can be applied in

other countries to increase the uptake of VMMC.

POSTER #: WEPE 330

Contact Email : pmkandawire@psimalawi.org