Abstract
BackgroundAlthough health care providers are beginning to focus on men’s roles as fathers and husbands, there is limited understanding of how men view their ability to promote sexual and reproductive health in families affected by HIV and their experiences with receiving education through antenatal care. This paper aims to explore men’s perceptions of the education they need regarding sexual and reproductive health within the family in the context of HIV.MethodsWe interviewed a convenience sample of 18 male partners of pregnant women living with HIV in Lusaka, Zambia. Atlas.ti was used to facilitate data management and content analysis.ResultsMen reported being the primary decision-makers regarding sexual and reproductive issues in the family; however, they admitted far-reaching unmet needs in terms of information on sexual and reproductive health in the context of HIV. Most men felt that antenatal care was not a conducive setting to fully educate men on sexual and reproductive health because it is a woman’s space where their health concerns were generally neglected. There was a strong desire for more education that was specific to men’s sexual and reproductive health, especially because all the couples were affected by HIV. Men especially requested education on sexual preparedness, safe sex, the use of condoms in sero-concordant and sero-discordant relationships and general health information. Although men stated they were the main decision-makers regarding sexual and reproductive issues such as pregnancy, most men were not confident in their ability to promote sexual and reproductive health in the family because of limited knowledge in this area.ConclusionThere is need to change the environment and messaging of antenatal care, as well as offer relevant education opportunities outside health facility settings to empower men with essential information for meaningful involvement in sexual and reproductive health in the context of HIV.
Highlights
Health care providers are beginning to focus on men’s roles as fathers and husbands, there is limited understanding of how men view their ability to promote sexual and reproductive health in families affected by HIV and their experiences with receiving education through antenatal care
The lack of outreach and information to men represents an important missed opportunity for male partners to be involved in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health in families affected by HIV
We present and discuss themes related to the promotion of sexual and reproductive health from the interviews conducted with 18 male partners of the pregnant women living with HIV, similar works were presented at the 14th Interest-2020 virtual conference [21]
Summary
Health care providers are beginning to focus on men’s roles as fathers and husbands, there is limited understanding of how men view their ability to promote sexual and reproductive health in families affected by HIV and their experiences with receiving education through antenatal care. Mweemba et al, [5] further argue that men as sexual partners contribute to the epidemiology of HIV through their engagement in risky behavior such as multiple sexual partners and through sexual violence In this regard, concerted efforts have gone into developing strategies to expand PMTCT services that include male partners, such as offering couple HIV testing during ANC [6]. Despite these efforts, there are considerable barriers to meeting men’s sexual and reproductive health needs, including their lack of information and limited understanding [7, 8]. Men need to instead be recognised as an essential part of reproductive health policy and practice
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