Comparing the PrePex™ Device to Surgical Circumcision for Rapid Scale Up of Male Circumcision in Resource Limited Setting

The World Health Organization and UNAIDS cite that male circumcision can reduce the lifetime risk of HIV infection by 60% in high risk areas such as Sub Saharan Africa. In 2009, the US Government (USAID) reported that scaling up male circumcision to reach 80 percent of adult and newborn males in 14 African countries by 2015 could potentially avert more than 4 million adult HIV infections between 2009 and 2025 and yield annual cost savings of US$1.4 - 1.8 billion after 2015, with a total net savings of US$20.2 billion between 2009 and 2025.

There are over 38 million adolescent and adult males in Africa that could benefit from male circumcision for HIV prevention. The challenge Africa faces is how to safely scale up a surgical procedure in resources limited settings.

The government of Rwanda has a national plan to decrease the incidence rate of HIV by 50%, and to support this, needs to conduct 2 million voluntary adult male circumcisions in 2 years, a nearly impossible goal with surgical methods. Hence, the government embarked upon a pre-safety and pivotal study to test The PrePex™ System, a new device and methodology for rapid adult male circumcision in resource limited settings. Evidence showed the safety and efficacy of the device, as well as the ability to conduct the procedure with no anesthesia, no blood, no sutures and in a standard consultation room.

The government decided to embark upon a controlled, randomized, two arm study comparing the PrePex™ device with the surgical method to have a broader evidence base to support the findings in the pivotal study.

Inclusion criteria

• Ages 21 - 54 years
• Subject wants to be circumcised
• Uncircumcised
• Agrees to be circumcised by any of the study methods, PrePex™ or Surgical as will be determined randomly
• Able to understand the study procedures and requirements
• Agrees to abstain sexual intercourse and to keep caution not directly rub the cut area if masturbating, for 8 weeks post removal (9 weeks total).
• Agrees to return to the health care facility for follow-up visits (or as instructed) after his circumcision that may take up to 8 weeks
• Subject able to comprehend and freely give informed consent for participation in this study and is considered by the investigator to have good compliance for the study

Exclusion criteria

• Active genital infection, anatomic abnormality or other condition, which in the opinion of the investigator prevents the subject from undergoing a circumcision
• Subject with the following diseases/conditions: phimosis, paraphimosis, warts under the prepuce, torn or tight frenulum, narrow prepuce, hypospadias,epispadias
• Known bleeding/coagulation abnormality, uncontrolled diabetes
• Subject who have an abnormal penile anatomy or any penile diseases
• Subject that to the opinion of the investigator is not a good candidate
• Subject that refuse to have an HIV test
• Subject does not agree to anonymous video and photographs of the procedure and follow up.