The male role in contraception: implications for health education.

Today most contraceptive efforts are focused on the female. The resultant diminished male role may have inadvertently undermined the many societal efforts at birth control. Many men, young and old, still perceive contraception as primarily a woman's responsibility, for after all, she suffers most directly from contraceptive failure. This attitude is unfortunate. Since decisions about pregnancy affect both partners, both should share the contraceptive burden equitably. More specifically, the two-fold purpose of the paper is: (1) to examine the available male contraceptives; and (2) to draw implications of the changing male role in contraception for health professionals in the school and community. The paper argues that while the involvement of men in contraception will not automatically solve the problem of unwanted pregnancy among the young, it can certainly make a difference--an important difference.