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There has been growing recognition of the need to address the sexual and reproductive health SRH needs of men and boys, including a need for more explicit guidance in domestic health policy and plans. This paper reports on a policy analysis, covering five East and Southern African countries, and discusses the extent and ways in which male clinical and non-clinical needs, and their roles in SRH are currently being reflected. It draws attention to the policy discourse, trends, and gaps in including men in the region as clients, partners and change agents to inform a way forward.
Keywords: Health policy, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, masculinities, gender transformation, male involvement. Men and boys have a variety of sexual and reproductive health needs, including contraception, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections STIs , sexual dysfunction, infertility, male reproductive health cancers, and how to provide support during pregnancy and child-related care.
However, these needs are often unfulfilled due to several barriers, such as male stoicism, reluctance to admit ill health, restrictive access to health facilities, negative stereotypes of male clients among providers and services that do not cater to their needs, and a lack of agreed-upon standards for delivering SRH clinical and preventative services to men and boys Baker et al.
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to address the SRH needs of men and boys. Aligning with these policy and programming efforts, there have also been attempts to expand the definition of male involvement to include men and boys as clients of SRH services and to encourage their role as agents of change within families and communities.
