Contraceptive awareness among men in Bangladesh

Objective: A considerable gap exists between contraceptive awareness and use. Traditional approaches to measuring awareness are inadequate to properly understand the linkages between awareness and use. The objective of this study was to examine the degree of men's modern contraceptive awareness in Bangladesh and the associated determinants and further testing of a hypothesis that current contraceptive use confers a high degree of method awareness.Methods: This study used the couple data set from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (1999–2000). A two-level, multinomial logistic regression was used with the degree of contraceptive awareness as the dependent variable. The degree of awareness was measured by the reported number of modern contraceptive methods known among men aged 15–59 years. Men's responses on method awareness were classified according to those reported spontaneously and probed.Results: Nearly 100% of the study participants reported having heard of at least one method and about half reported awareness of at least eight different methods of contraception. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that older and educated men were more likely to have reported a high degree of awareness. The findings confirmed our hypothesis that current contraceptive use is likely to confer a high degree of modern method awareness among men (p<0.001), after controlling for other important characteristics.Conclusions: Men who had a low degree of contraceptive awareness seem not properly informed of the wide range of contraceptive options. It is imperative that family planning intervention strategies in Bangladesh should focus on the degree and functional knowledge of contraceptive methods to improve the uptake of especially male-based modern methods

HIV in the Middle East and North Africa : priority, culture, and control

This study aimed to assess the priority of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa region and compare it with other regions. This review examines the social, cultural and religious features of HIV in the region, and considers their influence on perception of risk and approaches to control, such as condom use and antiretroviral therapy.; We screened a wide range of sources for comprehensive and reliable data; the search of PubMed, ISI Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and grey literature databases were unrestricted by language and year of publication.; Studies of HIV/AIDS in the region are limited, especially studies of social aspects of HIV/AIDS and their relevance for control. Findings suggest low condom use across the region among high-risk groups, and the general population, and low antiretroviral therapy uptake among people with HIV/AIDS.; The review indicates gaps in the literature and needs for more academic engagement and political commitment. Cultural norms have notable implications for HIV control, which are discussed, considering implications for the priority, prevention, treatment, and control of HIV/AIDS