dc.description.abstract | Back ground: Safe male circumcision is believed to be associated with reduced HIV
prevalence, yet it's uptake in the northern Ugandan district of Nwoya district is very low. If
well embraced and adopted widely, Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) can reduce new HIV
infections by 60% (WHO, 2013). The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors
influencing the uptake of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision amongst males above age
of 15 years in Purongo sub-county, Nwoya district.
Methods: This was a cross sectional study that was carried out in 380 males aged 15 years
and above in Purongo Sub County, Nwoya District. Data on uptake of voluntary medical
male circumcision and factors associated with its uptake was collected using semi-
administered questionnaire and key informant interviews. Data analysis was performed
using SPSS Version 20.0 soft ware and Pearson chi square tests were used to assess the
relationship between the socio demographic factors and personal factors with uptake of
voluntary medical male circumcision. All statistical tests were 2-tailed and P values less than
0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: In this study, 138 (36.30%) of the respondents reported to have been voluntarily
circumcised medically. All the socio demographic factors had a statistically significant
relationship with uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision (P < 0.05). Only
occupation of the respondent didn't reflect a statistically significant relationship with uptake
of male circumcision (P =0.32). Awareness about safe circumcision, willingness to get
circumcised, pains and the belief that circumcision reduces sexual pleasure were the
individual factors that significantly affected the uptake of voluntary medical male
circumcision in Purongo sub-county, Nwoya district (P < 0.05).
Conclusions and recommendations: The uptake of male circumcision was low, thus the
district health team should carry out mass sensitization campaigns to improve knowledge
and change attitudes in order to scale up safe male circumcision services in the area as a way
of reducing HIV infections. | en_US |