Are men well served by family planning programs?

The notion that family planning is women's business only is outdated. There is sufficient evidence demonstrating men's desire for information and services, as well as men's positive response to existing programming to warrant further programming for men as family planning users. Men have been reached as users of contraception through a range of programming that spans creating demand and expanding supply, in addition to addressing the enabling environment. Programming for men generally falls under five broad strategies designed to increase demand for and improve the supply of contraceptive information and services. These strategies include Clinic Provision of Information and Services for Men, Outreach with Male Motivators and Peer Educators/Mentors, Community Engagement, Communications Programs, and Comprehensive Sexuality Education. The five strategies include sub-strategies such as communication programs and community engagement. A review of 47 interventions that reached men as users of contraception shows that most programs operate from the perspective that women are contraceptive users and that men should support their partners, with insufficient attention to reaching men as contraceptive users in their own right. The interventions were carried out in 27 countries spanning Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and the Balkans. The analysis of the 47 interventions shows that they were designed to improve men's attitudes towards family planning, their knowledge of specific methods of contraception, and their use of family planning generally. The interventions included a range of methods such as the male condom, vasectomy, withdrawal, and the Standard Days Method. The evidence for the strategies ranged from randomized control trials to service statistics. The key considerations for strengthening programming for men as family planning users include providing information and services to men and boys where and when they need it, addressing gender norms that affect men's use of contraceptive methods, meeting men's needs while respecting women's autonomy, improving couple and community communication, linking men's contraceptive use with their desire to support their families, teaching adolescent boys about pregnancy prevention and healthy sexual relationships, developing national policies and guidelines that include men as family planning users, scaling up programs for men, filling gaps through monitoring, evaluation, and implementation science, and creating more contraceptive options for men. The notion that family planning is women's business only is outdated, and there is sufficient evidence demonstrating men's desire for information and services, as well as men's positive response to existing programming to warrant further programming for men as family planning users. The key considerations for strengthening programming for men as family planning users are essential for improving reproductive health and gender outcomes, and for meeting men's reproductive health needs. The five strategies for addressing men and family planning users include Clinic Provision of Information and Services for Men, Outreach with Male Motivators and Peer Educators/Mentors, Community Engagement, Communications Programs, and Comprehensive Sexuality Education. These strategies are designed to increase demand for and improve the supply of contraceptive information and services for men. The interventions were carried out in 27 countries spanning Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and the Balkans. The key considerations for strengthening programming for men as family planning users are essential for improving reproductive health and gender outcomes, and for meeting men's reproductive health needs. The analysis of the 47 interventions shows that they were designed to improve men's attitudes towards family planning, their knowledge of specific methods of contraception, and their use of family planning generally. The interventions included a range of methods such as the male condom, vasectomy, withdrawal, and the Standard Days Method.