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THE ongoing prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes at public hospitals and across the country are viewed by many as a welcome move as they offer expecting mothers a platform to choose whether they want to get tested for HIV before they give birth or not.
Commendable as it may be, most men continue to shun the programmes for various reasons.
PMTCT focuses on the prevention of HIV transmission from the mother to the infant during pregnancy, labour, delivery and breastfeeding.
It also covers treatment and support for parents found to be HIV positive.
The initial charge covers maternal health from the day the pregnant woman registers at the clinic or hospital until six weeks after delivery.
A visit to clinics in Chitungwiza showed that HIV/Aids prevention programmes that call for both male and female involvement were attended by women only.
Men who spoke to Standardhealth said PMTCT was good in that it helped expecting mothers know their HIV status but said clinics were not usually male-friendly as they were dominated by women.
Obert Kawara from Zengeza in Chitungwiza said: “PMTCT is of great benefit to both parents and the unborn child but it’s very hard for a man to do that.
“The environment itself is not pleasant. Imagine being the only male in a room filled with women, you would feel out of place.”
Another Chitungwiza resident, Ephraim Muzerengi, said he did not feel comfortable attending health-related programmes in the company of his wife because it was considered taboo in his culture.
But he agreed that HIV prevention was not meant for women only.
Muzerengi said health personnel should enlighten people, make sure that their environment is user-friendly for men and that men realise that health issues are beneficial to them as much as they are to their wives.
The University of Zimbabwe and University of California, San Francisco (UZ-UCSF)’s microbicides trials network project director Nyaradzo Mgodi said men were eager to play their part but still felt they were being left out in HIV prevention programmes.
“Actually, men are feeling left out of studies. One issue is that men have a poor health seeking behaviour.
“They may not present themselves to health care facilities as often as women. Women are more amenable, they present themselves to clinics more than men, for example on pregnancy issues,” Mgodi said.
Charles Chasakara also from UZ-UCSF said the relevant organisations should ensure that information was disseminated to the intended beneficiaries without leaving anyone behind.
He said male participation was still very low in Zimbabwe, but they had since witnessed a significant improvement in two of their recent research studies.
“In two studies that I participated in, the evidence shows that men feel they can make a difference.
“In the beer hall study, a male-focused prevention study, men’s participation was very good.
“We surpassed our recruitment targets and the cohort of peer educators (sahwiras) that we worked with,” he said.
Chasakara said if targeted in areas they patronise, men can participate fully.
He said men complained that women were being put on the forefront of Aids prevention programmes all the time.
“In the other study (workplace-based intervention) men expressed the desire to take a leading role in prevention.
“They felt that too many studies were focusing on women and leaving out men who, in actual fact, play a bigger role in decision making on most aspects of health-related practices,” Chasakara said.
BY ELIZABETH NDHLOVU-DUMBRENI
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