Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38172187›Full record

ArticleCommunications medicine2024

Substantial but spatially heterogeneous progress in male circumcision for HIV prevention in South Africa.

Matthew L Thomas, Khangelani Zuma, Dayanund Loykissoonlal, Ziphozonke Bridget Dube, Peter Vranken, Sarah E Porter, Katharine Kripke, Thapelo Seatlhodi, Gesine Meyer-Rath, Leigh F Johnson and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. A comparative analysis of voluntary medical male circumcision before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Gauteng province, South Africa.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Matthew L ThomasDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. matthew.l.thomas@manchester.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8171-1936
Khangelani ZumaHuman and Social Capabilities Research Division, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
Dayanund LoykissoonlalNational Department of Health, Pretoria, South Africa.
Ziphozonke Bridget DubeGenesis Analytics, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Peter VrankenDivision of Global HIV and Tuberculosis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria, South Africa.
Sarah E PorterDivision of Global HIV and Tuberculosis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria, South Africa.
Katharine KripkeAvenir Health, Washington, DC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8228-4577
Thapelo SeatlhodiNational Department of Health, Pretoria, South Africa.
Gesine Meyer-RathHealth Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0439-381X
Leigh F JohnsonCentre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Jeffrey W Imai-EatonMRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7728-728X

Funding

Statistical Models for Estimating and Projecting HIV/AIDS EpidemicsR01AI136664 · NIAID · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · PI BAO, LE · 2017 to 2021
$3.6M
Medical Research Council MR/R015600/1Medical Research Council MR/X020258/1NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI136664
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVoluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) reduces the risk of male HIV acquisition by 60%. Programmes to provide VMMCs for HIV prevention have been introduced in sub-Saharan African countries with high HIV burden. Traditional circumcision is also a long-standing male coming-of-age ritual, but practices vary considerably across populations. Accurate estimates of circumcision coverage by age, type, and time at subnational levels are required for planning and delivering VMMCs to meet targets and evaluating their impacts on HIV incidence.

methodsWe developed a Bayesian competing risks time-to-event model to produce region-age-time-type specific probabilities and coverage of male circumcision with probabilistic uncertainty. The model jointly synthesises data from household surveys and health system data on the number of VMMCs conducted. We demonstrated the model using data from five household surveys and VMMC programme data to produce estimates of circumcision coverage for 52 districts in South Africa between 2008 and 2019.

resultsNationally, in 2008, 24.1% (95% CI: 23.4-24.8%) of men aged 15-49 were traditionally circumcised and 19.4% (18.9-20.0%) were medically circumcised. Between 2010 and 2019, 4.25 million VMMCs were conducted. Circumcision coverage among men aged 15-49 increased to 64.0% (63.2-64.9%) and medical circumcision coverage to 42% (41.3-43.0%). Circumcision coverage varied widely across districts, ranging from 13.4 to 86.3%. The average age of traditional circumcision ranged between 13 and 19 years, depending on local cultural practices.

conclusionSouth Africa has made substantial, but heterogeneous, progress towards increasing medical circumcision coverage. Detailed subnational information on coverage and practices can guide programmes to identify unmet need to achieve national and international targets.

Identifiers

PMID38172187
PMCPMC10764768

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.