Mathilda Zvinavashe*, Chikura Nyagura, Zvinavashe AP, Doreen Mukona, Augustine Ndaimani, Maxwell Mhlanga and Clara Haruzivishe
Worldwide, 30% of all men, (665 million), are circumcised for various reasons including cultural, religious and medical reasons. This figure is too low, considering that it is projected that by the end of 2015 80% of all males should have been circumcised in order to reduce sexual transmission of HIV infection by 50% by 2025. Though prevalence of male circumcision is high in Jewish, Islamic and Muslim countries where it is about 98%, in some parts of the world, it is less than 5%. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of medical benefits of male circumcision among pregnant women aged 18-35 years at Parirenyatwa Antenatal Clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study was conducted with a convenience sample of 30 pregnant women. Data was collected from February to March 2013 using structured questionnaires. The health belief model was the guiding framework for the study. Permission to carry out the study was granted by the respective institutional review boards and all participants gave written consent. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results indicated that 66.7% knew that male circumcision is a preventive method of HIV. Twenty five (83.3%) were aware that it was easier to be infected with HIV if he is not circumcised that when he is circumcised. Ten percent of the respondents demonstrated low knowledge of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision while 53.3% had moderate knowledge and 36.7% had high levels of knowledge about VMMC. It follows from the study that women need to be actively involved in the VMMC programme.
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