Costs and Impacts of scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision in Tanzania

Given the evidence of the effectiveness of VMMC in preventing the spread of HIV, the Government of Tanzania has adopted the medical practice as a prevention strategy. To plan for the most efficient and effective scale-up of services, it is useful to determine the costs and impacts of VMMC scale-up on the number of infections averted. This study therefore aimed to estimate the unit cost per VMMC across three different service delivery models, to help policymakers determine the costs and impacts of various options for scaling up VMMC services in the country.

The study used the Decision Makers? Program Planning Tool (DMPPT) to estimate the cost and impact of scaling up VMMC on infections averted (http://www.malecircumcision.org). The cost analysis was conducted from the perspective of health providers in the Iringa, Mbeya, and Kagera regions. Three different VMMC delivery models (non-campaign, campaign, and mobile island outreach) were considered, allowing for comparison of the unit costs across service delivery models.