Male reproductive health in Lesotho: needs, knowlegde, attitudes and practices

[摘要] Most reproductive health programmes in Lesotho are designated for womenonly, such as the family planning programmes, which focus only on womenand children and exclude men. Male reproductive health programmes do notexist in Lesotho. Yet men, like women, have different reproductive healthneedsand problems at different stages of their development.The purpose of this study was to determine men's needs, knowledge,attitudes and practices regarding reproductive health. A non-experimentaldesign of a descriptive nature was used. The survey method was used togather data. Probability sampling techniques were used to select the sampleof 794 male respondents from the 10 districts of Lesotho. Focus groupdiscussions and structured interviews were used to collect data from therespondents aged 15 to 60 years and older, living in the rural and urban areasof Lesotho. Ethical principles as relevant to the conduct of research involvinghuman subjects was adhered to, such as obtaining the necessary permissionand complying with the human rights of the respondents. All data wasanalysed on a nominal descriptive level. The results of the study showed that men needed more knowledge andinformation related to male reproductive health; their attitudes towards theirown reproductive health and the services to be delivered varied; they did notpossess adequate information related to safe reproductive health practicesand indicated that they (men) would utilise male reproductive health servicesprovided they existed. Basedon the above, recommendations were made thathealth care programme managers in Lesotho should design men friendlyprogrammes and services. The education of health care providers should bemodified to include male reproductive health and all health care providersshould be trained to render quality male-friendly reproductive health care. Furthermore the need for further research into male reproductive health wasemphasized. Lastly, a proposed male reproductive health programme hasbeen outlined as a qutdellne for health care managers.

[发布机构] University of the Free State