Over the years efforts of condom promotion have not made much impact in India. With the emergence of AIDS condoms have been promoted as a risk prevention measure only in high risk populations. Pregnant women are at high risk to exposure to STIs as partners may no longer use condoms for pregnancy prevention. Therefore, to prevent this exposure, the concept of dual protection is introduced to couples attending Antenatal clinics by explaining that condom provides protection from pregnancy and the risk of STI to mother and newborn. The Men in Maternity program aims at improving the pregnancy outcome and male and female reproductive health by reducing the prevalence of STIs and by increasing postpartum FP. Using a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design, clients attending ANC clinics at 3 ESIC dispensaries will be compared to another cohort from 3 dispensaries where the intervention is added to existing antenatal and postpartum clinics. Pre and post intervention interviews with women and husbands allow comparisions to assess the impact of intervention. The intervention consists of individual counseling sessions with women and their husbands, one couple counseling session in antenatal period, one during their postpartum visit,universal syphilis testing of women and syndromic management of STIs among husbands. Doctors and nurses at the intervention clinics were trained in counseling skills, discussing STIs, condom demonstration etc. Laboratory staff were trained to carry out RPR tests for syphilis. The paper concludes with the experiences of health care providers in providing the enhanced ANC/PNC services.
Learning Objectives: AT the end of this session the participants will be able to: 1. Describe contemporary clinical based programs that promote the use of dual protection in India. 2. Identify program evaluation indicators that can be used to measure the impact of condom promotion programs.
Keywords: Condom Use, Sexual Risk Behavior
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.