Background: Safe male circumcision (SMC) is currently recognized as a preventive strategy in reducing the risk of HIV; however, the prevalence of circumcised men in Uganda is still quite low at 26%. This study aimed to determine the uptake of SMC and associated factors among Makerere University undergraduate students, in Kampala Uganda.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which we selected 602 participants with the multistage probability sampling strategy. Pretested semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Quantitative data were analyzed with Stata 12, where the prevalence ratio and p-values were calculated. Possible interactions and confounding variables were assessed with the Poisson regression model while qualitative data was analyzed with content analysis.
Results: The overall uptake of SMC among male undergraduates was 58.3% (95% CI: 54.37 - 62.24). Factors associated with SMC uptake included: safety of SMC procedure (PR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.03 - 1.25) and friendly health workers (PR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.74 - 0.83). The perceived benefits of SMC uptake included hygiene (86.5%, n = 521), reduced risk of HIV transmission (4.5%, n = 26) and reduced risk of penile cancer (45.7%, n = 275) while, the perceived barrier was pain (10.1%, n = 61). The general perception was that SMC recipient''s first sexual partner post-procedure would not be his girlfriend.
Conclusions: The overall reported SMC success rate among participants was high, along with the safety of SMC services and friendly health workers as important factors among male students. There is a need for continuous sensitization campaigns and communication strategies to address beliefs about SMC, some related misconceptions, and barriers so as to increase its uptake.

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