December 3, 2010

Dear Advocates,

AVAC and the ATHENA Network invite you to join a global teleforum on medical male circumcision and its implications for women.

The call will be held on Friday, December 10, 9-10am ET/5-6pm East Africa/4-5pm Southern Africa (see www.timeanddate.com for the time in your area) and will feature Kenyan, Swazi and Ugandan authors of the new report, Making Medical Male Circumcision Work for Women. See below for call-in details.

Making Medical Male Circumcision Work for Women is the first report from the AVAC/ATHENA Women’s HIV Prevention Tracking Project (WHiPT). Over the past 18 months, WHiPT teams in Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Uganda have documented community perspectives, particularly women’s voices, on medical male circumcision for HIV prevention. The teams came from communities most affected by the epidemic. The report will be available on the AVAC and ATHENA websites on Friday, December 10.

On the December 10 call, WHiPT team members will discuss key findings and trends, as well as their recommendations and planned next steps for ensuring that women’s concerns are addressed as part of the rollout of medical male circumcision (MMC) for HIV prevention.

Key findings that will be reviewed include:

• Women’s awareness and involvement in MMC
• Women’s support for the introduction of MMC into their communities
• Women’s understanding of the protection provided by MMC
• Implications of MMC on sexual decision-making and gender-based violence
• Conflation of MMC and female genital mutilation

Panelists include:

• Cebile Dlamini, Swaziland for Positive Living, Swaziland
• Allen Kuteesa, Health Rights Action Group, Uganda
• Marion Natukunda, Mama’s Club, Uganda
• Carol Odada, Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya, Kenya

Call-in Details
Universal passcode: 3671208#
Toll-free dial-in information
North America: + 1 866 740 1260
South Africa: 0800990940
United Kingdom: 08004960576

For the complete list of toll-free numbers click here. If you need to be called out to, please send your name, country and phone number to alysha@avac.org.

If you have any questions in advance please send them to avac@avac.org. Also, please note that the call will be recorded and the recording will be made available on the AVAC and ATHENA websites.
 
For background materials and updates on medical male circumcision research, advocacy and implementation, please visit the Male Circumcision Clearinghouse.

Looking forward to hearing your voice!

Best,
AVAC