African Journal of AIDS and HIV Research

African Journal of AIDS and HIV Research Vol. 3 (1), pp. 045-053, January, 2015.  © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Male circumcision and HIV infection in Bukoba urban district, Kagera region, Tanzania

Gasto Frumence¹, Gideon Kwesigabo², Japhet Killewo², Sabrina Moyo³, Maria Emmelin⁴ and Lennarth Nystrom⁵

¹Department of Development Studies, School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, PO Box 65454, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

²Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, PO Box 65015, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

³Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, PO Box 65001, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

⁴ Department of Clinical Sciences, Social Medicine and Global Health, Lund University, SE-205 02, Malmö, Sweden.

⁵Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, SE-901 85 Umeå, Sweden.

E-mail:[email protected]

Accepted 01 August, 2014.

Abstract 

Kagera is one of the 22 regions of Tanzania, which has witnessed a decline in HIV prevalence from 24% in 1987 to 4.7% in 2009 in the urban district of Bukoba. The aim of this study was to study the association between male circumcision and HIV infection in an urban district with an observed decline in HIV prevalence. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of a representative sample of 1497 males. The HIV testing was performed using enzyme-linked immunosobent assay (ELISA) antibody detection tests. Using logistic and multivariate regression analysis we assessed the associations between HIV status and prior circumcision while taking other risk factors into account. Individuals who were uncircumcised were almost two times more likely to be HIV positive compared to individuals who were circumcised (OR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.3-2.9). This association remained statistically significant even after adjusting for potential confounding factors such as age, marital status, occupation, level of education, condom use and number of sexual partners (OR=1.7, 95 % CI:1.03-2.6). The study concludes that male circumcision has a significant protective effect against HIV infection and that policy makers should strengthen existing male circumcision programmes to prevent new HIV infections.

Key words: Male circumcision, HIV infection, Kagera, Tanzania.