GENDER EQUALITY AND EQUITY IN ACCESS TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AMONG MEN AT THE BOANE DISTRICT HEALTH CENTER-MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE, 2020

Abstract

Sexual and reproductive health is the state of complete physical,mental and social well-being in all aspects related to the reproductive system. This implies that people must be able to obtain satisfaction and security in their sexual life, have the ability to reproduce including the freedom to decide when and how many children they want. However, the achievement of sexual and reproductive rights is impossible without male participation as users and partners in the SRH. It is imperative, therefore, that men take responsibility by invest in their own health and supporting the autonomy of women. The study aimed to analyse the factors that contribute to the use of sexual and reproductive health services among men in the district of Boane.Study is carried out in the health center of Boane district health services for women,it should be noted that for the materialization of this research,a cross-sectional descriptive study was used in a qualitative approach, non-probabilistic sampling for convenience, were part of the research 22 male users of the health service. There were asked about the use of Sexual and Reproductive Heath Service ( SRHS),the moment they used it,the type of services offered to men and if they were adequate.The data were collected in December 2020,through interview,where the semi-structured interview guide was used for this purpose.It is worth mentioning that at all time of the research the ethical precepts were respected.Results:Most of the interviewees (17) reported that they had heard of SRHS,(11) of the interviewees said that they offered family planning services and (08) said that they were unaware of the services offered (12) of the participants said they had never used the services and (08) said they did when they accompanied their wives. (15) of the interviewees said that they did not have an expectation when they went to these services: There were (02) who did not know if the services were adequate and (20) said that they were adequate. We concluded that there is a need for the most outstanding implementation of the drawn policies,new strategies in the approach of this question between men and adequacy of services so that they did not continue to be segregators and perpetuating the managing of gender.