Misconceptions around family planning and sexual and reproductive health continue to pose a challenge for increasing uptake of these services. Many services providers seek to overcome these barriers through education and information campaigns that correct possible biases. However, a recent study suggests that information provision, even when correct, may still lead to misconceptions. More providers are encouraging voluntary male circumcision because of its ability to at least partially protect men from contracting HIV. A recent study by Brendan Maughan-Brown, Susan Godlonton, Rebecca Thornton, and Atheendar Venkataramani found that individuals who learned that male circumcision reduces female-to-male transmission were significantly more likely to believe that it also protects women from male-to-female transmission. While reducing the number of HIV infected men may have a long-term impact on rates among women as well, the current effects are unknown and the campaign in the study provided only information on reducing female-to-male transmission. The RCT, based in Malawi, contributes to the growing literature that this is a common inference both men and women make regarding the effects of male circumcision on HIV transmission.
Misconceptions about the protective benefits of male circumcision can have important implications for HIV rates. If men and women believe circumcision lowers the risk of HIV for both parties, condom rates may decrease or women may be less able to negotiate for its use. It is likely that governments and other providers will continue to promote voluntary male circumcision given its potential benefits and apparent success in some countries. Moving forward, the emerging evidence suggests that such campaigns need to make more explicit that the direct protective effects are to men only. Further contributions to this field of research may focus on the cognitive processes or mechanisms that lead to the common misconception of reduced risk for women to help inform future campaigns around voluntary male circumcisions and other reproductive health services.
BERI 