Determinants of Men’s Involvement in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Nigeria

For too long men’s role has been seen as marginal in the area of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Despite the decision from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and the place of men in reproductive health (RH), the notion of many health-care providers that men are uninterested in taking responsibility for family planning and other RH issues still persists.  This study explored factors that influence male involvement in reproductive health. Qualitative methodswere used to collect data using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions involving twelve in-depth interviews and ten focus group discussions. Six in-depth interviews each were conducted in Adamawa and Bauchi States respectively, comprising four for males and two for females.  Five Focus group discussions each were also conducted in Adamawa and Bauchi States. Three of the FGDs in each state had all males and two had all females. The study found out that religion, pursuit of confidentiality, culture, contraceptive types, concentration of programming on women, and male egocentrism play a role in decreasing male involvement in RH services. Other factors which positively influence male participation in SRH health are: sports activities through using sporting activities to pass RH messages, home videos with RH messages, music which pass RH messages, attempts at reducing family size, fear of and awareness of STIs & HIV/AIDS, increased level of RH programmes which provide testing for STIs and HIV/AIDS, treatment and care together and awareness of reproductive health issues.The study concludes by recommending that there should be emphasis on men's participation in reproductive health since this could help draw attention to the need to do more for women as well. In other words, policies to increase men's participation may help improve women's programmes because more men would understand what SRH entailed and support better reproductive health care for women, as well as for themselves. Keywords: Qualitative Study, Male involvement, Sexual Reproductive Health, Adamawa and Bauch

Acesso aos serviços de saúde: uma abordagem de geografia em saúde pública Access to health services: a geographical approach to public health

O acesso da população aos serviços de saúde é um pré-requisito de fundamental importância para uma eficiente assistência à saúde. A localização geográfica dos serviços é um dos fatores que interferem nessa acessibilidade. Pretendeu-se estudar a localização dos serviços de saúde. A proposta básica foi a de apresentação de uma metodologia considerando-se as relações de variáveis geográficas, demográficas e sociais. Enfatizou-se, no processo, a participação da comunidade. Efetuou-se o estudo da adequação dessa metodologia às características da região de Santo Amaro, Município de São Paulo, Brasil. A contribuição dada pela abordagem geográfica abre ampla perspectiva quanto ao estabelecimento de novas linhas de estudo, planejamento e gestão, advindas do intercâmbio entre a Geografia Humana e a Saúde Pública, numa área que se sugere denominar Geografia em Saúde Pública.<br>The access of the population to the health services is a requirement of basic importance for the efficiency of health assistance. The geographical localization of the services is one of the factors that interfere with this accessibility. It is intended to make a contribution to the study of the localization of health services. The basic proposal introduces a method which takes into account the relationships between geographical, demographical and social variables. Emphasis is placed on community participation in the process. The study of the adequacy of this method was undertaken under the regional characteristics of Santo Amaro, a suburb of the city of S. Paulo, Brazil. The contribution furnished by the geographical approach in this work opens up a broad perspective for the setting up of new lines of research, planning and administration resulting from the interation between human geography and public health within the common field for which it is suggested Geography of Public Health