Complementary and alternative medicines: the herbal male contraceptives

Abstract

For a very long time, family planning methods have paid little attention to the needs of men, but instead focused primarily on women. A bulk of contraceptives on the market today is women oriented. Probably, many providers assume that women have the greatest stake and interest as far as family planning is concerned. Worst still, there is a misconception that men are indifferent or even stand in opposition to family planning. The consequences of this long neglect of developing acceptable and reliable male contraceptives in poor developing countries has been lack of or less participation of males in family planning. Recently, it has come apparent that neglecting men in matters of family planning is a losing strategy with adverse consequences for both men and women. As Africa is grappling with rapid population growth, it is now recognized that giving attention to females only can not solve the problem.

Keywords: Contraceptives; family planning; fertility; herbal medicines.