Case series of glans injuries during voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention - eastern and southern Africa, 2015-2018

Male circumcision confers partial protection against heterosexual HIV acquisition among men. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has supported > 18,900,000 voluntary medical male circumcisions (VMMC). Glans injuries (GIs) are rare but devastating adverse events (AEs) that can occur during circumcision. To address this issue, PEPFAR has supported multiple interventions in the areas of surveillance, policy, education, training, supply chain, and AE management. Since 2015, PEPFAR has conducted surveillance of GIs including rapid investigation by the in-country PEPFAR team. This information is collected on standardized forms, which were reviewed for this analysis. Thirty-six GIs were reported from 2015 to 2018; all patients were