The assessment of community knowledge, attitudes and practices towards medical male circumcision in Njombe town council, Tanzania

Abstract

Introduction: Tanzania started implementing the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) project in 2009 as a scale-up of a proven HIV prevention intervention. The project was implemented in regions with high HIV prevalence and low medical male circumcision (MMC) prevalence, including Njombe region in southern Tanzania. Although the VMMC project has met its target of scaling the coverage of male circumcision to 80% in Njombe, it is not clear if this achievement came with changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices, which may determine the sustainability of VMMC after the project is phased out. This study assessed knowledge, attitudes and practices towards MMC among community members of Njombe Town Council. Methods: The study used a descriptive cross-sectional design involving 156 community members who were randomly selected from the study population. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. Data were analyzed using SPSS V.20. Results: A majority of respondents (89.7%) knew that circumcision reduces the risk of HIV acquisition. Furthermore, only 43.6% of respondents knew that circumcision does not protect completely against HIV. Over 60% of respondents had a positive attitude towards MMC. Moreover, male circumcision is practiced in Njombe Town Council, with 73.7% of respondents saying that their community is practicing male circumcision. Conclusion: Knowledge, attitudes and practices of community members of Njombe Town Council towards MMC has been found to be good, though not among the entire community. More initiatives should be carried out by the government and other stakeholders to advocate MMC to community members of Njombe Town Council