Male involvement in reproductive health and family planning programs in the Gaza strip Palestine focus group discussion

ABSTRACT

A few studies have found an association between positive attitudes towards reproductive health use of family planning and contraceptive methods. In the Gaza strip in Palestine fertility still remain high. It is therefore important to know what factors facilitate uptake of family planning. Twenty sessions of focus group discussion [FGDs], were performed, ten for men and ten for women. The participants were randomly selected [7 women and 53 men] from the Gaza strip attending primary health care [PHC] centers in 2001. They were asked about their personal understanding and their perceptions of reproductive health and family planning, social and cultural acceptability, religious legality, sex composition of children and their own satisfaction with the available services. The principal findings of the study indicated a positive change in the social, cultural and behavioral norms of married men and women in the Gaza strip-Palestine. The study revealed that the majority of men and women interviewed considered the practice of family planning to be socially and culturally acceptable mainly for economic and health reasons. There was, however, some confusion and doubt among a few men about the "legality" of contraceptives from a religious perspective. Most of the men in the study showed a thorough understanding of the concepts and benefits of family planning and reproductive health and were familiar with several methods of contraceptives. They also indicated that they discussed family planning and reproductive issues openly with their wives and shared reproductive decisions. However, reproductive decisions are associated and affected by other factors such as the sex composition of children in families, and the influence of in-laws and other family members. Both men and women in this study reported that they were generally satisfied with the quality of family planning services they received at both united nation relief and work agency [UNRWA] and Ministery of health [MOH] clinics