Men cold on family planning

Men cold on family planning

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: The participation of Indonesian men in family planning programs is very low, accounting for just three percent (or 750,000) of the 25 million registered participants, an official said on Monday.

Imam Haryadi, a deputy chairman of the National Family Planning Coordinating Body (BKKBN), said that the low level of participation was due to the limited choice of contraceptives.

The most common contraceptive methods used by Indonesian men are condoms (0.7 percent), vasectomy (0.4 percent), coitus interuptus (or ejaculation outside the vagina, 0.8 percent) and masturbation (1.1 percent), BKKBN statistics shows.

The level of participation is the lowest among four countries that have a majority Muslim population, Pakistan (5.2 percent), Bangladesh (13.9 percent) and Malaysia (16.8 percent).

Another major cause for the low participation of men is the misperception that family planning and reproductive health are chiefly women's affairs.

In more conservative areas, open discussion on reproductive health is still considered taboo for religious and customary reasons, Imam added. --Antara