Men as partners: Preventing HIV/AIDS and promoting gender equity with innovative male involvement in PMTCT and VCT services

Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) developed a new programmatic strategy called Men Taking Action (MTA) to address barriers to male involvement in PMTCT and VCT in Zambia. MTA trained traditional community leaders to mobilize men for promoting PMTCT and VCT. CMMB implemented MTA at 31 Church Health Institutions (CHIs) and associated communities in 25 Zambian districts. Data collection involved desk review of MTA registers and monthly reports at all MTA CHIs and a KAP survey at 10 CHIs. The KAP sites were selected using a non-probabilistic sampling methodology for major cultural groupings. Respondents were selected randomly. Every site had a focus group involving community leaders and male members. Among pregnant women attending ANC, 92% vs. baseline of 60%, tested and received results. 100%, vs. 70% at baseline, of women who tested HIV positive accepted ARVs for PMTCT and HIV care. For VCT, 70%, vs. a starting baseline of 11.7% of men tested and received results. 98% of women reported a reduction in spousal physical violence, and 65% revealed that they now jointly plan how funds earned by the spouse are spent. Findings show male involvement in health can increase TC among pregnant women and couples, reduce stigma, and improve PMTCT uptake. Leveraging traditional leaders as health champions is an effective way engaging men in HIV care and gender equity with positive behavioral change. This strategy can be adapted to promote behavior change with chronic and infectious disease interventions in other sub-Saharan African countries facing a generalized or gendered HIV epidemic.