PSI and Partners Join Call for Male Circumcision Scale Up

WHO, US Global AIDS Coordinator, and noted academic highlight ways to maximize impact of the life-saving intervention at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna

VIENNA, July 20, 2010 - The U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and the World
Health Organization's Director of HIV, TB, and Malaria, Africa Regional
Office, Dr. David Okello, joined PSI (Population Services International)
today in calling for greater efforts to rapidly and efficiently scale up male
circumcision service delivery in Eastern and Southern Africa.

In March 2007, WHO and UNAIDS recommended adult male circumcision as an
effective HIV prevention intervention, able to reduce the risk of HIV
infection among men by up to 60 percent. Male circumcision is the only
intervention to show consistent efficacy in clinical trials. Scaling up male
circumcision to reach 80 percent of adult and newborn males in Eastern and
Southern Africa by 2015 could avert more than 4 million new HIV infections
between 2009 and 2025 and could yield a total net savings of US$20.2 billion
during the same time period.

Speaking at an afternoon press conference at the 18th International AIDS
Conference in Vienna, Dr. Krishna Jafa, PSI Director of HIV, TB and
Reproductive Health, said, "With global resources spread thin, we must focus
on expanding proven and cost-effective methods like male circumcision to
prevent HIV transmission." Those comments echoed similar remarks made
yesterday by former President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bill Gates, who
both called for rapid and efficient scale up of male circumcision as a
proven, cost-effective method of HIV prevention.

Despite the understanding of the need for scale-up, barriers still remain
in many countries where the epidemic has hit hardest. Shortages of trained
health care providers and inefficiencies in traditional delivery methods have
prevented many countries from reaching their target goals for numbers of men
circumcised.

PSI - which provides male circumcision services in four countries across
Southern Africa and communications support in six - today released its
ground-breaking study from Zimbabwe, where researchers customized and
implemented the MOVE model for male circumcision. MOVE (Models of Optimizing
Volumes and Efficiency) optimizes the use of staff and facility space to
allow task shifting and task sharing. It also prioritizes clinical techniques
and surgical methods to help scale up male circumcision services. The study
shows that the quality of the procedure was not compromised by the model and
there were no increases in the percentage of clients reporting adverse events
following the procedure.

"The MOVE model was successful in Zimbabwe due in large part to the
strong support of the Zimbabwean government, which made MOVE a part of its
nationwide expansion of male circumcision services," said PSI President and
CEO Karl Hofmann, who moderated the press conference. "In order to replicate
this success elsewhere, we must engage all sectors - public, private and
non-governmental organizations alike - in expanding access to high-quality
male circumcision services through efficient service delivery and supply
chain management systems."

PSI will host a satellite session on strategies for scaling up male
circumcision services on Wednesday July 21 at the International AIDS
Conference. Frances Cowan of the University College of London, who also spoke
at today's press conference, will join representatives from USAID, the
Centers of Disease Control, Family Health International and the Nyanza
Reproductive Health Society in Kenya to discuss issues such as
cost-effectiveness, informed demand and integrating neonatal male
circumcision services in the session.

About PSI

PSI is a leading global health organization with programs targeting
malaria, child survival, HIV and reproductive health. Working in partnership
within the public and private sectors, and harnessing the power of markets,
PSI provides life-saving products, clinical services and behavior change
communications that empower the world's most vulnerable populations to lead
healthier lives. www.psi.org Follow PSI on Twitter and on the Healthy
Lives blog: twitter.com/PSIHealthyLives and
healthylivesblog.blogspot.com/

Abstract TUPDC203: Models to increase volumes and efficiency (MOVE) in
Zimbabwe's Male Circumcision program

    Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
    appropriate link.
    Karl Hofmann
    https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=92990

Anna Dirksen, +43(0)680-236-8990, adirksen at psi.org, or Marshall Stowell, +43(0)680-232-5589, mstowell at psi.org, both of PSI