The Connotation of Male Reproductive Health and Male Participation in Family Planning – Speech by Zhao Yufeng (Part Two)
5. Male reproductive health
The Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development states that innovative programs must be developed to provide reproductive health information, counseling, and services to adolescents and men, enabling men to assume primary responsibility in family planning, housework, and childcare. Reproduction is a sexual activity, and reproductive health encompasses the rights and obligations of both sexes. However, for a long time, childbirth, contraception, and infertility have seemed to be solely the responsibility of women, with men often absent from family planning activities. Society also lacks attention to men's reproductive health.
Male reproductive health encompasses a wide range of aspects, including physiological, psychological, and social factors. Currently, the focus should be on two main areas: male participation in family planning and attention to male reproductive health. The main contents include: ① Men should establish gender equality in their views on marriage and childbearing; ② Men should respect women's freedom in dating, marriage, and family life, and practice family planning and eugenics; ③ Men should support their wives' informed choice of contraceptive methods and proactively assume responsibility; ④ Men should support their wives and children's work in society and try to share household chores; ⑤ Attention should be paid to male reproductive physiology, male sexual health, sexual dysfunction, common male diseases, and male infertility.
In our efforts to promote scientific knowledge about male reproductive health, we selected 16 cities as pilot cities. Targeting male participation in family planning and concerns about male reproductive health, we organically combined the promotion of husbands' responsibility in family planning, addressing male reproductive health concerns and anxieties, creating a happy and harmonious married life, and improving the quality of family life. We focused on addressing erectile dysfunction (ED) as the starting point for male participation, thereby raising widespread awareness and active participation among male citizens, and ultimately providing experience and models for nationwide promotion.
II. Correctly Understanding and Grasping the Promotion of Male Participation in Family Planning
1. Family planning publicity and education must be people-oriented and tailored to individual circumstances.
Facing the new century, family planning publicity and education can no longer remain at the rudimentary stage of addressing specific issues; it must embody the principles of "people-centeredness," "tailored approach," and "high-quality service." Caring for people's health, especially men's health, is the starting point for encouraging male participation in family planning. Publicizing "male reproductive health" is a high starting point in itself; understanding this initiative and correctly positioning its role and relationship are crucial for conducting pilot programs. In particular, eliminating the misunderstandings that easily arise in the initial stages is essential. Similar to the 1986 survey of common women's diseases and basic gynecological health education conducted in Heilongjiang Province, the focus should be on addressing erectile dysfunction (ED) to gain the understanding and support of male citizens, garner social recognition and support, and then call upon men (husbands) to consciously shoulder the responsibilities of family, society, reproduction, contraception, eugenics, and quality education, fulfilling their responsibilities as husbands in family production, life, and reproduction.
Just as our family planning publicity and services address infertility, care for the masses' production and poverty alleviation, focus on early childhood education for children aged 0-3, and help menopausal couples alleviate their suffering, family planning work has involved multiple aspects and angles of integration. Starting in the 1980s, cooperation projects between my country and the United Nations Population Fund, and bilateral collaborations with countries such as the Japan Family Planning International Cooperation Foundation, involved various integrations related to family planning services, such as rural water and sanitation improvements, parasite control, and maternal and child health. Practice has proven that these integrations have achieved excellent results. In the early 1990s, our own "three-pronged" approach to family planning was praised nationwide as a "road of hope" for rural areas to achieve fewer births, faster prosperity, and a better life. I believe that today, the "Male Health Promotion Project" that we are about to gradually implement in cities will become a "road of civilization and happiness" that focuses on men and benefits families.
2. The significance of male participation in family planning
Currently, male participation in my country's family planning work is far from sufficient, both in terms of awareness and level of involvement. Women are more involved in aspects such as harmonious and cooperative marital life, establishing the desire to have children, and adopting contraceptive methods, while men seem to be largely excluded. For example, regarding contraceptive methods, condoms are a simple, safe, and hygienic measure, but the rate of male condom use is very low nationwide. Approximately 1.13 billion condoms are produced annually in China, with an average adoption rate of only 3.9% nationwide, and even in major cities like Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, the adoption rate is only 12%. Vasectomy is also a simple, safe, and long-term contraceptive measure, but the national adoption rate for male vasectomy is only 9.2%, and below 0.5% in northwestern provinces. As for female contraceptive and sterilization methods, the adoption rates are as follows: IUD insertion (intrauterine device) approximately 45.5%, tubal ligation 38.2%, oral medication 2.2%, subdermal implants 0.4%, topical medications 0.3%, and other methods 0.2% (totaling 90.6%).
Statistics show that more than 100 million sexual encounters occur worldwide every day, resulting in 910,000 pregnancies and 350,000 sexually transmitted bacterial and viral infections. Approximately 50% of these are unplanned, and 25% are unintentional.