Family planning has been described as the best approach to quicken achievement across Sustainable Development Goal themes of People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership. Unmet need for family planning remains very high regardless, especially in rural areas.This study assesses the knowledge and involvement of men in family planning in rural communities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling method was used to recruit 220 men in rural communities of Cross River State aged 15- 59 years who were in a union. Although the level of awareness of family planning among respondents was high(96.2%), adequate knowledge of family planning methods was poor(89.9%);  the practice of family planning was poor—condom use as a method of family planning practiced by 37.2%, withdrawal by 1.4%, while no respondent had undergone male vasectomy.

Bivariate analysis revealed: religion was statistically significantly associated with knowledge of pills as a family planning method (p=0.008): Catholics were less likely to be knowledgeable about pills: occupation was significantly associated with family planning practice among respondents (p=0.015). Respondents who were students, recent school leavers or unemployed (66.7% in all) practiced family planning more than those who were government- (34.4%) or self- employed (36.4%) (p = 0.015). Despite recognition and recommendation of male involvement during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), male participation in this service is still very poor in the rural area.

Keywords: Male, involvement, family planning, rural.

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Ekpenyong, Nnette Okon

Department of Community Medicine, University of Calabar/ University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Phone no 2348037237979, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.