Attitudes of males on contraception: a KAPE survey.

ABSTRACT

PIP: A research field assistant interviewed 260 men living in villages in Kgalagadi (Kalahari) district in Botswana to determine their acceptance of family planning (FP). 74% knew something about FP and 81.2% knew that the health facility provided FP services. While women in another survey in the same district were more likely to report a health worker as the first person to tell them about FP (86.3%), men were more likely to mention friends, family, and others (69.9%). Most men (75%) discussed FP with their partners. Just 13.5% went with their partners to FP counseling sessions. 36.5% believed contraceptives encourage infidelity and would be so angry if their partners were using contraceptives that they would beat them. Only 35.4% said that only women should practice FP. 30.8% considered prevention of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases to be a man's duty. 33.8% said that both men and women should cooperate in FP. 78.5% considered too many children for their partners as not good, but for financial reasons, not health reasons. 51.9% wanted more than 3 children. 88.4% believed contraceptives were safe. Most men linked condoms to FP. 45.7% consistently used condoms. 86.2% wanted their partners to use FP while the other believed it to be against biblical teachings. Only 6.9% would ever think about having a vasectomy. Just 20.8% knew about female surgical sterilization. In conclusion, most men knew about and accepted FP. FP workers must step up promotion of male attendance at FP counseling sessions. They also need to inform men that other FP methods besides condoms exist.