Abstract:
Involvement of men in family planning and contraceptive uptake is vital, as men are
mentioned to dominate families’ important decisions such as the number of children
a couple to have and the spacing of those children(Mosha, Ruben, & Kakoko, 2013).
Therefore, study aimed at assessing men’s attitude, practice and barriers towards
contraceptive uptake in Mvomero District. Data were collected from 110
respondents, whereby Cluster sampling and purposive sampling techniques were
used to select respondents of this study. Data were collected using interviewer
administered questionnaire, interview and Documentary review methods. Statistical
Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyze quantitative data while,
qualitative data was analyzed by Content analysis.
The findings of this study showed that 34% of men use contraceptive, while 66% do
not use any kind of contraceptives. Also, the results demonstrated that 71% of men
are not supportive to their spouse/partners on the use of family planning they do not
communicate with their female couples about family planning and 89% do not attend
to RCH clinics with their spouse/partners where they would have got some
knowledge on family planning services. It was also revealed that men consider
family planning is necessary for their family wellbeing and its practice is not a
blasphemy. However, men consider contraceptive uptake is a women practice, that it
is not necessary for them to use due to their side effects and desire to have many
children. This study also found out that knowledge, attitude, traditions beliefs, and
religious beliefs are the barriers hindering contraceptive uptake among men.
Furthermore, this study pointed out the strategies on place that can ensure male
involvement in family planning. These strategies include; the Government
commitment in extension of FP services; Provision of family planning products like
condoms for free; Recruitment and distribution of adequate and competent health
service providers in health facilities; Positive response of religious leaders and
community leaders toward family planning; Intensive distribution of condoms in
different outlets such as shops, super markets etc; and attendance of male partners in
RCH clinics should be compulsory.
