The Challenge

Adult male circumcision (MC) has been proven to reduce lifetime risk of HIV infection by between 50 to 71 percent. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) began advocating for male circumcision as an effective means of HIV prevention.

Despite numerous countries’ campaigns in recent years, governments have struggled to provide a safe, accessible, and cost-effective procedure for adult MC. Surgical methods are intrusive difficult to scale, requiring highly skilled medical cadres and expensive materials and infrastructure – all difficult to access in areas of highest need.

The Innovation

Circ MedTech has developed the PrePex device – a safe, simple and scalable methodology for administering adult MC. The device is easily and safely removed within a week, and patients’ daily routines go uninterrupted during the whole procedure.

The procedure is non-surgical, completely bloodless, and requires no injected anesthesia, no knives, no sutures, and no sterile settings. It can be administered by even minimally-skilled healthcare workers in resource-limited settings – a radical breakthrough in adult MC.

Elaborate studies conducted by the Government of Rwanda, based on the WHO’s suggested evaluation framework, have validated the safety, efficacy and supremacy of the device over surgical techniques.

The Impact

The PrePex device makes it possible for Rwandan health authorities to implement a nationwide, voluntary MC program capable of reaching 2 million men within 2 years. This is expected to inspire other African governments, proving that MC scale up is in fact a reality for Africa.

Acumen’s investment will enable Circ MedTech to complete the final stages of WHO prequalification and preparation for launch in critical African markets.