Job title:
PhD Candidate
Department:
School of Public Health
Research interests:
Fellowship: Rocca Dissertation Research
Fellowship Year(s): 2022
Project/Theme Title: Sustainability of the Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision Program in Zimbabwe
Abstracts: The withdrawal of donor funding for Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision (VMMC) programs has stimulated African countries to mobilize domestic resources and assume responsibility for these programs. In Zimbabwe, there is political will to take on the program, as evidenced by the VMMC Sustainability Transition Implementation Plan. Once sustainability of the VMMC program has been achieved, it will be an integrated, decentralized, and locally owned program. The integration of this vertical program will be into existing health services. Decentralization will result in increased availability of the procedure at lower-level health centers. Local ownership will mean increased leadership and management by subnational stakeholders and greater community engagement. Few studies have taken an empirical approach to understanding the implementation process. My research on the transition of Zimbabwe’s VMMC program from donor to government ownership will provide a first-of-its-kind case study, offering evidence on three key implementation processes: decentralization, integration, and local ownership.