Men key in a healthy society prods Fransis Njang’iru
By Derrick Sinjela published on Monday 11th July 2011
MANAGER Membership Advisory Services (MMAS) Fransis Njang’iru holds a view that men’s unhealthy choices families and the entire community.
MANAGER Membership Advisory Services (MMAS) Fransis Njang’iru
In an interview with the author in Lusaka, Zambia, NJang’iru said health educators needed specific knowledge and skills for addressing men’s cultural beliefs.
Njang’ru said gender specific skills and knowledge must be made integral to development of communication skills at national, regional, continental and global levels.
“In Africa, there are many cultural barriers that prevent men from taking some key positive health decisions. Men are the key drivers of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV infections and need to be targeted to improve their individual health and that of women and children. Many good health education programs fail to address the effect of cultural beliefs on men’s behaviour. There is need to scale-up family planning uptake and integrations. In a home when a woman is pregnant, a man cannot escort his wife to the clinic for antenatal and cannot take the baby to the clinic when it’s sick because of some cultural beliefs which describe such positive roles as a sign of weakness,” Njang’ru advised.
