ABSTRACT
Uncircumcised adolescent males in sub-Saharan Africa are an important group to reach with voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services due to high HIV burden occurring among this age group. Appropriateness of the content and delivery of sexual health and HIV prevention messages to adolescent VMMC clients has not been extensively described. A study was conducted in Tanzania to examine quality, delivery and content of messages provided to adolescent (aged 15-19) and adult (aged 20+) VMMC clients (n = 320). Results show that counseling of mixed age groups during group education lacked selected key messages, compared to more age-homogeneous groups. Additionally, adolescents received more comprehensive information in individual counseling compared to group education. We recommend that health care providers are provided with skills and job aides to assist them to segment VMMC clients by age; provide age-appropriate messages; and increase use of individual counseling as a means to communicate with adolescent clients.
Subject(s)
Circumcision, Male/psychology , HIV Infections/prevention & control , Adolescent , Adult , Circumcision, Male/ethnology , Delivery of Health Care/methods , HIV Infections/ethnology , Humans , Male , Tanzania , Young AdultABSTRACT
The pervasive presence of the internet and the commonality of mobile devices for communication technology have changed modalities for information exchange. Recent developments in information and communication technology (ICT) have specific implications regarding dissemination of information among youth, as exemplified by the Arab spring. The opportunity of those emerging technologies should be seized upon. ICT platforms should be used to scale-up policies and programmes that promote the sexual and reproductive health of youth due to their low cost, increased access to remote populations, better efficiency and improved flexibility for programming. Successful models should be identified through programme evaluation.