Percent of uncircumcised males (or parents of) with a stated intention to be circumcised (have next-born or teenage sons circumcised) in the next 12 months (or at birth) in the intended population

Percent of uncircumcised males (or parents of) with a stated intention to be circumcised (have next-born or teenage sons circumcised) in the next 12 months (or at birth) in the intended population

Percent of uncircumcised males (or parents of) with a stated intention to be circumcised (have next-born or teenage sons circumcised) in the next 12 months (or at birth) in the intended population

This indicator looks at the stated intentions of four main audiences:

  • The percent of uncircumcised males in the intended population with a stated intention to be circumcised in the next 12 months
  • The percent of all males in the intended population with a stated intention to have next-born or teenage son circumcised
  • The percent of females in the intended population with a stated intention to encourage a male partner to be circumcised
  • The percent of females in the intended population with a stated intention to have next-born or teenage son circumcised

The following questions can be used in a survey with the following possible answers: (1) Yes (2) No (3) Maybe (4) Don’t know what circumcision is (5) Have not thought about it

For uncircumcised adult males

  • Do you intend to be circumcised in the next 12 months?

For all men

  • If you were to have a male child in the future, would you have him circumcised at birth?
  • If you had/have a teenage son, would you encourage him to be circumcised in the next 12 months?

For women

  • If you were to have a male child in the future, would you have him circumcised at birth?
  • If you had/have a teenage adolescent son, would you encourage him to be circumcised in the next 12 months?
  • Would you encourage a male sexual partner to be circumcised?

 This indicator is calculated as:

(Number of respondents answering ‘Yes’ / Total number surveyed) x 100

Data Requirement(s):

Response to survey questions; circumcision status among male respondents

Population-based survey (DHS, HIV/AIDS survey, Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey) or other representative survey

Data should be disaggregated by age and sex.

The percent of respondents answering ‘Yes’ is an indication of current or future demand and the effect of communication messages. Changes over time in percentages, in particular, signal attitudinal shifts and allow the estimation of the effect of communication messages or changing societal norms, which is an important step to behavior change.

Intention, as a step in the behavior change process, is “necessary but not sufficient” to predict with certainty behavior change.  Particularly for female respondents in patriarchal societies or families, although they may wish to have their sons circumcised, they may be unable to act on their intentions because they hold no decision making power or because of strong social pressure to conform to the norms of their family or community.  Also, many married women and men perceive their risk of getting HIV to be very low, and thus may feel no need to encourage circumcision within the marriage.

Also, the measurement of this indicator relies on the willingness of respondents to truthfully admit their intentions, which may or may not be valid. In areas where there have been popular campaigns to encourage the practice, people may be reluctant to admit they do not intend to be circumcised or have their male children circumcised.

male circumcision, HIV/AIDS, knowledge

WHO & UNAIDS. A guide to indicators for male circumcision programmes in the formal health care system. 2009.  http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/malecircumcision/hiv_mc_me.pdf

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