School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Papua New Guinea, PO Box 5255, Boroko, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Reprod Health. 2013 Sep 10;10:46. doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-10-46.
Lack of male involvement and support for sexual and reproductive health services is seen by many Papua New Guinean women as a barrier to accessing services. Poor utilization of services by both men and women is reflected in high maternal mortality and high rates of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections in the Southern Highlands Province. It is therefore important to understand the type of services provided, men's perceptions of these services and the Health Sector's capacity to involve men in its programs.
Information from interviews of married men, officers in charge of health facilities, and information from a focus group discussion with village leaders was collected to assess possible constraints to reproductive and sexual health care delivery.
Although many men had heard about antenatal care, supervised births, family planning and sexually transmitted infections including, HIV/AIDS, many were unaware of their importance and of the types of services provided to address these issues. There was a very strong association between men's literacy and their knowledge of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) issues, their discussion of these issues with their wives and their wives' utilisation of sexual and reproductive health services. Some men considered SRH services to be important but gave priority to social obligations. Although men made most decisions for sexual and reproductive issues, pregnancy, child birth and rearing of children were regarded as women's responsibilities. Knowledge of HIV/AIDS appeared to have changed sexual behaviour in some men. Services for men in this rural setting were inadequate and service providers lacked the capacity to involve men in reproductive health issues.
Poor knowledge, socio-cultural factors and inadequate and inappropriate services for men hampered utilization of services and impaired support for their wives' service utilization. Programmatic and policy initiatives should focus on improving service delivery to accommodate men in sexual and reproductive health.
许多巴布亚新几内亚女性认为，男性对性健康和生殖健康服务的参与和支持不足，是她们获得服务的障碍。男性和女性对服务的利用率都很低，这反映在南部高地省的孕产妇死亡率高、艾滋病毒/艾滋病和性传播感染率高。因此，了解所提供服务的类型、男性对这些服务的看法以及卫生部门在其方案中使男性参与的能力非常重要。
收集了已婚男性、卫生设施负责人的访谈信息以及与村长举行的焦点小组讨论的信息，以评估生殖和性保健服务提供方面可能存在的制约因素。
尽管许多男性听说过产前护理、监督分娩、计划生育和性传播感染，包括艾滋病毒/艾滋病，但许多人不知道这些服务的重要性以及提供这些服务的类型。男性的读写能力与其对性和生殖健康问题的了解程度、与妻子讨论这些问题的程度以及妻子对性和生殖健康服务的利用程度之间存在很强的关联。一些男性认为性和生殖健康服务很重要，但优先考虑社会义务。虽然男性对性和生殖问题做出了大多数决定，但怀孕、分娩和抚养子女被视为妇女的责任。对艾滋病毒/艾滋病的了解似乎改变了一些男性的性行为。在这种农村环境中，男性服务不足，服务提供者缺乏让男性参与生殖健康问题的能力。
知识匮乏、社会文化因素以及男性服务不足和不适当，阻碍了服务的利用，并削弱了对妻子服务利用的支持。方案和政策倡议应侧重于改善服务提供，以满足男性在性和生殖健康方面的需求。
