Medical students from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, DRC and Rwanda are participating in a 2 days workshop on Voluntary Medical male circumcision technique using a device called Prepex.

Medical Students' Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR) is an independent, non-governmental and non-political organization of medical students of Rwanda. MEDSAR works under the umbrella of URSU (University of Rwanda Students Union) which is a general association of students at the University of Rwanda and is a member of the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA ). As IFMSA vision a world in which all medical students are united for global health and are equipped with the knowledge, skills and values to take on health leadership roles locally and globally.

This year MEDSAR was chosen to host the 11th Africa Regional Meeting (ARM) of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) under the theme; post 2015 maternal New Born and child health. 

MEDSAR was also requested to organize pre-conference workshops with different themes to the participants on the conference. PrePex center of excellence in Rwanda Military Hospital in collaboration with CircMeTech decided to facilitate a conference on Voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention and the use of the PrePex device.

In 2014 roughly 36 million people in the world were living with HIV/AIDS. Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) can reduce the risk of HIV infection from women to men by roughly 60%. However, adult male circumcision has proven problematic, mainly because it is essential that the procedure is carried out surgically, in a sterile environment by a trained professional-challenging requirements in remote impoverished areas.

In response to this obstacle Circ MedTech developed PrePex- the first non-surgical adult male circumcision device. The PrePex may look like a set of simple plastic rings, but it has the potential to save millions of lives by removing foreskins cheaply and cleanly. It works by cutting off the blood supply to the area, and the skin drops off. The cost effective device can be used by minimally skilled health workers, and requires topical cream rather than injected anesthetic. The procedure does not require a sterile setting nor stitches which means no bleeding, and less chance of infection while healing. Thus circumcision goes back to being a safe way of reducing HIV infection rates.

Rwanda military hospital was the first health facility to test this innovative device and run the first clinical trials. It serves as the PrePex center of excellence where representatives from many countries came to be trained on the PrePex technic.

The conference elaborated in details the VMMC program and the role of PrePex in this program, it covered clinical aspects as well as programmatic and public health perspective.