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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ubaidur Rob, Ph D, Population Council, House # CES (B) 21, Road # 118, Gulshan, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh, 880 2 882-3334, urob@pcdhaka.org, Nancy J. Piet-Pelon, MA, Independent Consultant, 3546 South Utah Street, Arlington, VA 2206-1721, Nitai Chakroborty, M Sc, Department of Statistics, University of Dhaka, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Marium Mutahara, MA, House No 21, Population Council, Road 118, Gulshan, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is known throughout the world for its successful demographic transition brought about the sustained efforts of the national family planning program. The contraceptive prevalence of all methods increased from 7.7 percent in 1975 to almost 54 percent in 1999-2000. Yet, less than 15 percent of users rely on condom, vasectomy or traditional methods requiring male participation as their current contraceptive methods. For the past 8 years TFR remained 3.4 , which created lot of concern among the policy makers. Understanding the leverage of men on family planning decision-making is essential in Bangladesh where men traditionally dominate both the family and community power structure. The Demographic and Health Surveys collected information from married men in the last three surveys. It is observed that husbands’ knowledge of family planning methods and sources of supply is high, their attitudes are positive, their desired family size is small. The findings suggest that most couples decide on contraception together and the habit of joint decision-making is increasing. The survey data suggest men agree that antenatal care is important but apparently lack information concerning proximate service facilities. This may contribute to their wives not receiving appropriate care. This article compares the results of these surveys, discusses the areas where men still have a critical influence on family planning practice, and the changes in recent years.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.