Enhancing uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision among adolescent boys and men at higher risk for HIV: evidence and case studies

Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) has been recommended by WHO and UNAIDS since 2007, and was re-evaluated in 2020 as an effective intervention for the prevention of heterosexually acquired HIV in men in settings where the prevalence of heterosexually transmitted HIV is high, with a focus on 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. These countries have established and rapidly scaled up VMMC within HIV programmes, and through 2019 over 27 million VMMCs were performed.

The WHO 2020 VMMC Guidelines, and previous guidance documents, had identified reaching men at higher risk of HIV as a future priority for VMMC programme and research efforts. The 2020 guidance focused first on providing an up-to-date evidence summary on methods for enhancing uptake among adult men generally.

This technical brief is intended to provide a more focused evidence review in 2021 to support programmes in their efforts to reach more men at higher risk, and to document some of the approaches which may be valuable for programmes restarting or rescaling their operations.