Publication Announcement

July 1, 2004

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The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) announces publication of its latest Population Reports issue, Men's Surveys: New Findings.

Since 1990, 46 countries, most in sub-Saharan Africa, have taken nationally representative family planning and reproductive health surveys of men—compared with just 4 countries before 1990. These surveys provide new information about men's family planning attitudes and behavior. While the surveys are not representative of developing countries as a whole, they are characteristic of sub-Saharan Africa. The surveys of men cover many of the same topics that surveys of women cover and therefore permit some comparisons.

The new surveys find that men in sub-Saharan Africa generally know and approve of family planning. Most married men say they want to continue having children, as do most married women in sub-Saharan Africa. Still, more men than women want to continue having children. Also, on average, men want larger families than married women do, according to Population Reports, published by the INFO Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A growing percentage of men report that they or their partners are using contraception, according to data from countries where at least two surveys have been conducted since 1990. The increase is greatest for condoms. Still, in many surveyed countries most married men do not use contraception. In only 16 surveyed countries do a majority of married men report that they or their wives use contraception.

Of the 46 countries that have surveyed men about family planning since 1990 as part of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Reproductive Health Surveys (RHS) programs, 25 are in sub-Saharan Africa, 11 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the remaining 10 in other regions. Findings of women's surveys can be found in a companion issue of Population Reports, New Survey Findings: The Reproductive Revolution Continues, Series M, Number 17, Spring 2003.

Key findings of the surveys include:

• Sexually active unmarried men are more likely than married men to use contraception, primarily condoms. In all 36 countries with survey data, levels of condom use are higher among unmarried sexually active men than among married men.
• Most men know and approve of family planning. In 23 of 25 sub-Saharan countries, men are more likely than women to know of at least one contraceptive method, most often condoms. Most men approve of family planning. Nevertheless, women are even more likely to approve of it.
• Overall, men want more children than women want. In 21 of 41 countries with survey data on desired family size, married men, on average, report that they want at least 0.5 more children than married women want. In some African countries, men want at least two children more than women want. Such findings may help explain why many married women report that they have more children than they would have preferred.
• Young unmarried men face years of potential HIV risk. The percentage of young men who are currently sexually active varies widely among surveyed countries. In most of 33 countries with survey data, half of young men report that they began sex before age 18, but in most countries the median age at first marriage is between 23 and 30. Thus many young men face at least five years of potential risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
• Unmarried sexually active young men are more likely than married men of the same age to use contraception. Nonetheless, in 15 of 32 countries with data, most sexually active unmarried adolescent men do not use condoms or any other contraceptive method.

In addition to the eleven data tables that appear in the printed report, the Internet text includes additional tabular data from surveys before 1990, as well as two other tables not in the printed report. A "Surveys Package" CD-ROM also is available and includes Excel files of all tables used in preparing the report, as well as the full text of the report, additional tables, and POPLINE abstracts of the most helpful bibliographic items in the report. To order the CD-ROM send an e-mail to Orders@jhuccp.org, or write to Orders Department, Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA.

Full text of the report, written by Ruwaida M. Salem of the INFO Project, can be seen on line at: http://www.populationreports.org/m18/. For printed copies of the report send an e-mail to , or write to Orders Department, Johns Hopkins University, Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. A web-based order form can be found at: http://www.jhuccp.org/cgi-bin/orders/orderform.cgi.

Population Reports is an international review journal of important issues in population, family planning, and related matters. It is published four times a year in three languages by the Information for Optimal Health (INFO) Project at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, Bloomberg School of Public Health, for more than 160,000 family planning and other health professionals worldwide, with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID administers the US foreign assistance program, providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

For more information contact: Stephen Goldstein at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6331; Fax: 410 659-6266 e-mail: PopRepts@jhuccp.org or press@jhuccp.org. WEB SITE: http://www.infoforhealth.org

Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.