LITTLE participation by men in family planning and sexual reproductive is stifling efforts in the fight against maternal deaths and population boom in Malawi, health experts have said.
A media training tour organized by US-based population reference bureau in Chikhwawa, Blantyre and Zomba districts discovered that women were in the forefront in issues of sexual reproductive health and family planning while men showed reluctance.
Women in all the areas said men had been reluctant to participate in efforts to reduce problems of sexual reproductive health and family planning, a development that is pulling back progress in the area.
A visit to Tomali Traditional Authority Lundu in Chikhwawa District revealed that women start practising family planning methods without the knowledge of their husbands for fear of reprimands.
A 30-year-old woman in the area who is on Depo Provera, an injection for family planning Lisineti Chilongo said her husband told her that he would like to have two more children on top of the three they have.
She said the pains she passed through when delivering her last child a year ago made her consider methods of family planning.
“When I told my husband about my decision to practise family planning I was shouted at and he called me names accusing me of being unfaithful,” Chilongo said.
The woman said the development left her with no option but to seek help secretly.
“I consulted a health surveillance assistant who gave me an injection that will keep me out of any danger of conceiving for three months,” she said.
Commenting on the development, family planning advisor for USAID-funded Malawi Sciences for Health programme Joyce Wachepa appealed to men to take part in the efforts saying the success of family planning and sexual reproductive health lay in the understanding of both husband and wife.
“The decision to control the number of children a family is supposed to have is an agreement between the man and the woman in the family,” she said.
Wachepa said if men were taking part in the programmes maternal deaths would have reduced drastically.
Meanwhile Banja la Mtsogolo says since the introduction of vasectomy in the 1990’s, a handful had come forward to use the method, Marketing and external relations manager for Banja la Mtsogolo Mackenzie Kachanje told journalists during the training.
“Despite a steady growth in other methods of family planning vasectomy has remained static.
“Statistics shows a zero growth on men coming for vasectomy since 1994 to date. I think this is due to the fact that a lot of men do not like to take part in issues of family planning,” he said.
He said men have a variety of what he called unfounded fears that if they undergo vasectomy they would no longer be able to perform in bed.
Kachanje said men also fear that in the event of a divorce they might not be able to father any children when they remarry.
“The reluctance of men to take up vasectomy is an indication that men are not forthcoming to participate in issues of family planning and this is dangerous,” Kachanje said.
He said Banja la Mtsogolo planned to intensify information campaign in an effort to reach out to many men.
A media training tour organized by US-based population reference bureau in Chikhwawa, Blantyre and Zomba districts discovered that women were in the forefront in issues of sexual reproductive health and family planning while men showed reluctance.
Women in all the areas said men had been reluctant to participate in efforts to reduce problems of sexual reproductive health and family planning, a development that is pulling back progress in the area.
A visit to Tomali Traditional Authority Lundu in Chikhwawa District revealed that women start practising family planning methods without the knowledge of their husbands for fear of reprimands.
A 30-year-old woman in the area who is on Depo Provera, an injection for family planning Lisineti Chilongo said her husband told her that he would like to have two more children on top of the three they have.
She said the pains she passed through when delivering her last child a year ago made her consider methods of family planning.
“When I told my husband about my decision to practise family planning I was shouted at and he called me names accusing me of being unfaithful,” Chilongo said.
The woman said the development left her with no option but to seek help secretly.
“I consulted a health surveillance assistant who gave me an injection that will keep me out of any danger of conceiving for three months,” she said.
Commenting on the development, family planning advisor for USAID-funded Malawi Sciences for Health programme Joyce Wachepa appealed to men to take part in the efforts saying the success of family planning and sexual reproductive health lay in the understanding of both husband and wife.
“The decision to control the number of children a family is supposed to have is an agreement between the man and the woman in the family,” she said.
Wachepa said if men were taking part in the programmes maternal deaths would have reduced drastically.
Meanwhile Banja la Mtsogolo says since the introduction of vasectomy in the 1990’s, a handful had come forward to use the method, Marketing and external relations manager for Banja la Mtsogolo Mackenzie Kachanje told journalists during the training.
“Despite a steady growth in other methods of family planning vasectomy has remained static.
“Statistics shows a zero growth on men coming for vasectomy since 1994 to date. I think this is due to the fact that a lot of men do not like to take part in issues of family planning,” he said.
He said men have a variety of what he called unfounded fears that if they undergo vasectomy they would no longer be able to perform in bed.
Kachanje said men also fear that in the event of a divorce they might not be able to father any children when they remarry.
“The reluctance of men to take up vasectomy is an indication that men are not forthcoming to participate in issues of family planning and this is dangerous,” Kachanje said.
He said Banja la Mtsogolo planned to intensify information campaign in an effort to reach out to many men.
A great efforts needed
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