Male Contraceptive Methods: Understanding Men and Women's Views and Related Relationship Dynamics via Nationally Representative Surveys in Six Countries

A better understanding of men's and women's attitudes and relationship contexts into which novel male contraceptive methods will be introduced is needed. A cross-sectional survey of 12,435 randomly selected heterosexual men aged 18-60 years-and 9122 of their female partners-was conducted in Nigeria, Kenya, the DR Congo (DRC), Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, during 2021-2022. Across all countries, the majority endorsed that both men and women are responsible for contraception and reported that open communication and shared decision-making were common between partners. Important differences emerged by region-for example, larger proportions in Asian versus African contexts reported trust in one's partner to disclose contraception use. About one-third of respondents who had used existing male contraceptives were dissatisfied with them. Notable proportions (up to one half) also had some concerns about the potential of new male contraception methods -for example, that it may negatively affect men's sexual performance. Multinomial regression analyses showed that higher education and income were associated with more positive attitudes about men and women's shared responsibility for contraception. Findings suggest that a future roll-out of novel male contraception should tailor awareness messages and related programming to address existing concerns and differences in attitudes across regions. Results also indicate that in multiple countries with high burdens of unintended pregnancy there is a need, interest, and relatively favorable contexts for the introduction of new male contraceptives.