What Do People Actually Learn from Public Health Campaigns? Incorrect Inferences About Male Circumcision and Female HIV Infection Risk Among Men and Women in Malawi

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dc.creatorMaughan-Brown, Brendan
dc.creatorGodlonton, Susie
dc.creatorThornton, Rebecca
dc.creatorVenkataramani, Atheendar
dc.date2014-10-06T08:44:16Z
dc.date2014-10-06T08:44:16Z
dc.date2014
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-28T10:06:46Z
dc.date.available2015-05-28T10:06:46Z
dc.date.issued2015-05-28
dc.descriptionQualitative studies and polling data from sub-Saharan Africa indicate that many individuals may mistakenly believe that male circumcision directly protects women from contracting HIV. This study examines whether individuals who learn that male circumcision reduces female-to-male HIV transmission also erroneously infer a reduction in direct male-to-female transmission risk (i.e. from an HIV-positive man to an uninfected woman). We used data on Malawian men (n = 917) randomized to receive information about voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) and HIV risk in 2008 and a random sample of their wives (n = 418). We found that 72 % of men and 82 % of women who believed that male circumcision reduces HIV risk for men also believed that it reduces HIV risk for women. Regression analyses indicated that men randomly assigned to receive information about the protective benefits of circumcision were more likely to adopt the erroneous beliefs, and that the underlying mechanism was the formation of the belief that male circumcision reduces HIV risk for men. The results suggest the need for VMMC campaigns to make explicit that male circumcision does not directly protect women from HIV-infection.
dc.identifierMaughan-Brown, B., Godlonton, S., Thornton, R., Venkataramani, A. (2014). What do people actually learn from public health campaigns? Incorrect inferences about male circumcision and female HIV infection risk among men and women in Malawi, Aids and Behaviour.
dc.identifierhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10461-014-0882-0
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/765
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article DA - 2015-05-28 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - AIDS KW - Circumcision KW - HIV risk KW - Health risks KW - Public health campaign KW - Malawi KW - Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - What Do People Actually Learn from Public Health Campaigns? Incorrect Inferences About Male Circumcision and Female HIV Infection Risk Among Men and Women in Malawi TI - What Do People Actually Learn from Public Health Campaigns? Incorrect Inferences About Male Circumcision and Female HIV Infection Risk Among Men and Women in Malawi UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11090/765 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/765
dc.languageen
dc.publisherAIDS and Behaviour
dc.publisher.departmentSALDRUen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectAIDS
dc.subjectCircumcision
dc.subjectHIV risk
dc.subjectHealth risks
dc.subjectPublic health campaign
dc.subjectMalawi
dc.subjectVoluntary Male Medical Circumcision
dc.titleWhat Do People Actually Learn from Public Health Campaigns? Incorrect Inferences About Male Circumcision and Female HIV Infection Risk Among Men and Women in Malawi
dc.typeJournal Article
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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