Contextualising the adoption of male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy in Zimbabwe

Antony Chikutsa, Zimbabwe Open University

Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world with an estimated rate of 14.7 percent. In 2009 Zimbabwe adopted male circumcision for HIV prevention based on Randomised Controlled Trials conducted in South Africa and Uganda which showed 60 percent efficacy. This adoption comes in the background of a low national circumcision prevalence rate. While some studies have been done on acceptability, the present study intends to investigate the conceptualizations of male circumcision. The study will utilize the survey method and data will be collected from individuals using a questionnaire and from key informants using in-depth interviews. Qualitative data will be collected using focus group discussions. It is hypothesized that the study findings will confirm earlier studies which show a reasonably high acceptability levels. However, it is also anticipated that the findings will show the divergence of conceptualizations which may affect uptake of circumcision.