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Study from Zambia highlights importance of comprehension and consent in male circumcision programmes
Gus Cairns, 2011-09-21 16:10:00
A study from Zambia has found that the majority of adolescent boys attending male circumcision programmes have done so by choice and with their parents’ approval, although some said it had been primarily their parents’ idea. It found that, though understanding of the meaning and purpose of male circumcision was high in both adolescents and adults, that there were a couple of specific aspect of the procedure that were widely misunderstood. Zambia is one of the countries in Africa that has been expanding male circumcision programmes as part of its HIV prevention strategy.
However the study also found that a significant minority of adolescents had got themelves circumcised without parental consent, and that both parents and teenagers were confused about the rules of informed consent. Furthermore, in a relatively small sample of 28 qualitative interviews, it found one boy, aged 14, who had clearly been pressurised against his will to get circumcised.
Dr Katie Schenk of the Population Council (PC) in the United States told the tenth AIDS Impact conference last week that, as part of the research programme of the Male Circumcision Partnership, a consortium of family-planning and STI NGOs, the PC had conducted 95 qualitative interviews and six focus groups between November 2009 and March 2010 to assess the feelings and understanding of adolescent boys, adults, family members and key opinion leaders regarding circumcision and the experience of undergoing it. It also got 115 adolescents and 311 adults who were contemplating circumcision to fill in multiple-choice questionnaires to gauge their comprehension of crucial aspects of circumcision.
One-to-one interviews were conducted with 28 boys aged 13-17 (mean age 15.4) and 34 adult men aged over 18 (mean age 26) who had undergone circumcision, and also 13 opinion leaders and key informants. There were six focus groups conducted with a total of 36 parents or guardians of boys who had got circumcised.
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