Today WHO and UNAIDS issued much-anticipated guidelines and recommendations on male circumcision for HIV prevention. The document, New Data on Male Circumcision: Policy and Programme Implications, will be used as the basis for further action on the part of donors and countries.
These recommendations are useful, but they are just a first step in translating research into public health impact. Civil society advocacy, monitoring and analysis will be needed to ensure that male circumcision is made available in culturally-appropriate, context-specific programs that meet community needs and provide a minimum range of services.
AVAC hopes that you will join us in moving forward with this advocacy effort.
On Tuesday, April 3, AVAC and partners will host a global civil society call to discuss how the new recommendations may impact on advocacy agendas around male circumcision in developed and developing world contexts. The call will be at 7am US Pacific/10am US Eastern/3pm London/4pm South Africa and Geneva/5pm Nairobi and Entebbe/7:30pm Delhi. We will be joined on the call by a representative of WHO who will be able to answer questions and discuss the process to date and plans for the future. If you are interested in participating in the call, please e-mail avac@avac.org to get the call-in details.
In addition, AVAC has created a set of documents for advocates and activists who want to be involved and informed about these important developments. These documents are at http://www.aidsvaccineclearinghouse.org/MC/#new and include:
Male circumcision is likely to be rolled out first in sub-Saharan Africa. How can civil society groups in this region get involved in advocating for and monitoring programs?
What do these data mean in the US context? What can US advocates do to support rollout overseas?
Now that male circumcision has been recommended for some settings, what don't we know about it? What additional trials are needed? What are priorities for future trials and operational research?
How has male circumcision been studied? Why might it work to protect men from infection during vaginal sex? First released in December 2006, this document will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect the new WHO/UNAIDS recommendations.
We look forward to hearing you questions, comments and thoughts and hope you'll join us on the upcoming call!
