Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 2;25(1):491.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-12467-5.

The paradox of enhancing male involvement in family planning uptake in rural Tanzania: insights from Bahi District, Dodoma Region

Fabiola H Odira  1   2 , Chakupewa J Mpambije  3 , Yohannes E Kachenje  1
Affiliations

The paradox of enhancing male involvement in family planning uptake in rural Tanzania: insights from Bahi District, Dodoma Region

Fabiola H Odira et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Family Planning (FP) is a requirement of global and national legal instruments to ensure its full provision to both men and women. Male involvement in FP is internationally streamlined to ensure it is achieved in resource-constrained countries. However, because of lack of sustainable means of ensuring men are fully engaged, less is documented on male involvement in FP uptake among developing countries. This study examined the paradox of enhancing male involvement in FP uptake in rural Tanzania.

Methods: The study held from May to July 2022 employed mixed methods, whereby, quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 90 respondents in Bahi District, whereas, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 key informants. Quantitative data such as descriptive statistics including frequencies, cross tabulation and descriptive ratio statistics; categorical outcome predictions to specifically investigate relations; and cluster analysis to determine the relationship between variables related to this study, performing chi-square test was conducted through IBM SPSS software version 26. Besides, a thematic approach was employed for qualitative data to identify and interpret themes in the data set.

Results: Most men are not effectively involved in FP due to several limitations that revolve around contextual issues emanating from institutional and community settings. It was revealed that 71% of respondents mentioned inefficient practice of specific policies and guidelines as limiting FP uptake. Also, 93% mentioned limited FP method choices for men, whereas 95% argued over the existing myths and misconceptions in the community, with 67% pointing to social norms limiting FP uptake. Religious beliefs were also cited as limiting male involvement in FP matters.

Conclusion: Male involvement is an essential aspect of effective FP uptake. Given the low male involvement in Bahi District, this study recommends designing participatory programmes to enforce the available policy geared to improving male involvement is imperative. Thus, efforts are needed to ensure friendly environments in health facilities to attract males to accompany their partners for FP services. On the whole, effective community engagement from the local government is encouraged. In this, non-state actors have the opportunity to design effective interventions to address the problem.

Keywords: Bahi District; Family planning uptake; Limitations; Men; Policies; Practices; Rural Tanzania.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The Ethics Review Committee of Ardhi University, Tanzania Ref approved this study. No HD/T.1549/2020. Ardhi University has been mandated to issue research and ethics clearance to its staff and students on behalf of the Government of Tanzania and the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). Participants in this study were requested to participate verbally and in writing. The collected data was treated confidentially and was used by the research team only. The privacy of the participants in this study was also upheld. The research was done in compliance with the Helinski Declaration where the participants wellbeing, integrity, dignity, autonomy, privacy and confidentiality of their personal information were preserved, besides best interest and rights have been highly valued and protected; thorough evaluation has been done throughout the process; ethical standards were in check; the environment has been preserved by minimizing the use of papers. Further, the research was conducted with skilled and qualified persons, people living with disability and people from hard-to-reach communities were prioritised in the study, participants’ free and informed consents were obtained, relevant literature and information from skilled key informants were collected and documented, no risks or burdens were encountered. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Jorosi-Tshiamo WB, Mogobe KD, Mokotedi MT. Male involvement in child care activities: a review of the literature in Botswana. Afr J Reprod Health. 2013;17(4). - PubMed
    1. Shand T, Marcell AV. Engaging men in sexual and reproductive health. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2021.
    1. Mulatu T, Sintayehu Y, Dessie Y, Dheresa M. Male involvement in family planning use and associated factors among currently married men in rural Eastern Ethiopia. SAGE Open Med. 2022;10:20503121221094178. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Seth K, Nanda S, Sahay A, Verma R, Achyut P. Men, the missing link in Gender-equitable family planning: A scoping review. Gates Open Res. 2022;6(73):73.
    1. United Republic of Tanzania (URT). National family planning guidelines and standards. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; 2013.

LinkOut - more resources