The impact and understanding of childhood drowning by a community in West Bengal, India, and the suggested preventive measures.

AIM: Our aim was to improve our understanding of the contextual factors contributing to child drowning in rural West Bengal, India. METHODS: This 2017 study used interviews, focus groups and observations and the participants included community leaders, household heads, parents and children aged 7-17 years from three remote villages. They included adults and children who had been directly affected by the loss of family members or friends. RESULTS: We conducted 19 in-depth interviews, six focus groups and three informal observations in public locations where people were exposed to water. The area contained a high number of natural open areas of water, which increased the drowning risk. Participants reported that children frequently played unsupervised near potentially hazardous water, as their parents worked long hours and there was a lack of safe recreational spaces. Suggested approaches to reducing the drowning risk included parental education to improve child supervision and establishing village committees to effectively communicate the drowning risks to local government. Low-cost, community-based approaches to improving child water safety need to be developed. CONCLUSION: Drowning was clearly a complex issue in rural West Bengal, with a significant impact on children and their families. Community-based approaches are clearly needed.

Male Reproductive Health: A village based study of camp attenders in rural India.

BACKGROUND: A paucity of information about male reproductive health and a perceived interest in involvement among local men provided the impetus for carrying out a village based male reproductive health camp. The aim was to investigate men's willingness to participate in such camps, and to describe reproductive health problems in men. METHODS: Structured interviews were carried out with 120 men attending a reproductive health check-up in a village in rural West Bengal, India. General information, details of family planning methods used and data on reproductive health complaints were collected. Clinical examinations were also carried out. Socio-demographic characteristics were compared for men with and without reproductive health and urinary complaints. RESULTS: Three quarters of the married men were using contraception, but the majority stated that their wives were responsible for it. The most common reproductive health complaint was urinary problems; 28% had burning on urination, and 22% reported frequent and/or difficult urination. There were few social or demographic differences between men with and without problems. Seventeen percent of the men had clinically diagnosed reproductive health problems, the most common being urethral discharge. None of the men with diagnosed problems were using condoms. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the interest of men in their reproductive health, but also highlights the high proportion of men with problems. In addition, a number of men with clinically diagnosed problems had not reported them in the interviews, illustrating either the reticence to report or the lack of knowledge about symptoms of reproductive health problems. Recommendations for future programmes and research in this field are given.