Saha Kalyan B, Singh Neeru, Chatterjee Saha Uma, Roy Jyotirmoy
Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals (Indian Council of Medical Research), Jabalpur MP, India.
Rural Remote Health. 2007 Apr-Jun;7(2):605. Epub 2007 May 18.
Indian tribal men's lack of participation in reproductive health not only damages their own health, but also contributes to the reproductive ill health of their female partners and children. In India the involvement of men in such matters is a new concept. There is a paucity of data particularly on Scheduled tribesmen's knowledge and the extent of their participation in reproductive health. This inhibits planning. The present study aims to understand the involvement of Scheduled tribesmen in reproductive health and the barriers to their involvement by generating a database from the Khairwar tribe of Central India.
A door-to-door survey on knowledge, attitude and practice relating to aspects of reproductive health was conducted by canvassing a pre-designed interview schedule among 15-40 year old, currently married Khairwar males in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, India.
As far as reproductive morbidity is concerned, only 17% of the respondents had heard of HIV/AIDS, and most had no proper knowledge of its transmission. Although 74% of the respondents had heard about reproductive tract infections, the majority of them were unaware of the mechanism of transmission and seriousness of the problem. The duel role of condoms, both as a method of family planning and a protective measure against sexually transmitted infections, was also unknown to them. Approximately 59% of the males were aware of family planning but only 13% were using any method (mostly female sterilization) at the time of survey. Their view on the ideal number of children (3.56) exceeded the actual number of children born and living. High infant and child mortality influenced their preference for higher fertility. Very few among them (29%) had knowledge of antenatal care. They expressed faulty knowledge, myths and unhelpful attitudes towards sexual health matters.
The study revealed the male Scheduled tribe population's lack of knowledge and misinformation regarding male sexual health issues, the gender inequality in Indian society, and a lack of male-oriented reproductive health services, all of which deter men from sharing the responsibility.
印度部落男性对生殖健康缺乏参与，这不仅损害了他们自身的健康，还导致其女性伴侣和子女的生殖健康问题。在印度，男性参与此类事务是一个新概念。特别是关于在册部落民的知识以及他们参与生殖健康的程度，相关数据匮乏。这阻碍了规划工作。本研究旨在通过建立印度中部凯尔瓦尔部落的数据库，了解在册部落民在生殖健康方面的参与情况及其参与的障碍。
通过在印度中央邦西迪区对15至40岁、目前已婚的凯尔瓦尔男性进行预先设计的访谈问卷，开展了一项关于生殖健康方面知识、态度和实践的挨家挨户调查。
就生殖疾病而言，只有17%的受访者听说过艾滋病毒/艾滋病，而且大多数人对其传播方式没有正确的认识。虽然74%的受访者听说过生殖道感染，但他们中的大多数人不知道传播机制和问题的严重性。他们也不知道避孕套作为计划生育方法和预防性传播感染保护措施的双重作用。大约59%的男性了解计划生育，但在调查时只有13%的人使用任何方法（主要是女性绝育）。他们理想的子女数量（3.56个）超过了实际出生和存活的子女数量。高婴儿和儿童死亡率影响了他们对更高生育率的偏好。他们中很少有人（29%）了解产前护理。他们对性健康问题表达了错误的认识、迷信观念和无益的态度。
该研究揭示了在册部落男性人口对男性性健康问题缺乏了解和存在错误信息，印度社会存在性别不平等，以及缺乏针对男性的生殖健康服务，所有这些都阻碍了男性分担责任。
