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To increase involvement of men in reproductive health
programmes in support of achieving MDG and ICPD goals |
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January 2004 – December 2007 |
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Maternal & Child Health Section, Department of Health (DOH), Ministry of Health (MOH)
Myanmar Medical Association (MMA) |
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The Myanmar Medical Association (MMA), a local NGO, implemented the activities in Myanmar targeting married men with reproductive-aged wives and men of reproductive age, including youth living in the five project areas in Bago Division.
More than 300 male volunteers who were trained under the project organized community-level activities, such as group discussions with community men, health talks, “edutainment” programs, and peer education, in collaboration with general practitioners who own private health clinics and the local authority. A variety of BCC media tools, such as a picture theater, videos, and brochures, were utilized to attract more men and to disseminate RH information.
In order to facilitate maternal emergency referrals, a support group was formed with the aim of ensuring timely referrals for maternal emergencies. This group was led by the volunteers in cooperation with midwives from the community. |
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The project’s final evaluation results revealed the effectiveness of Myanmar’s BCC strategy, with improvements in almost all the output indicators of male knowledge, attitude, and behavior. The percentage of men who could state three or more danger signs during pregnancy rose from 5.7% to 24.6% in the urban area and from 4.1% to 23.2% in the rural area. Furthermore, the number of deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants rose from 61.3% to 65.6% in the urban area and from 55.7% to 76.5% in the rural area. Such results were partially due to the large number of trained volunteers operating as access points to the target population and to the wider and balanced coverage of topics they learned from the training and their supervising general health practitioners in the community. |
