'It depends on who is asking and why they will use it': Access to male condoms in Timor-Leste

Helen Henderson; Helio Afranio Soares Xavier; Silvina Amaral Mendonca; Alexandrina Marques da Silva; Mariano da Silva; Rui Maria de Araújo; Meghan A Bohren; Cathy Vaughan

Journal article

'It depends on who is asking and why they will use it': Access to male condoms in Timor-Leste

Helen Henderson, Helio Afranio Soares Xavier, Silvina Amaral Mendonca, Alexandrina Marques da Silva, Mariano da Silva, Rui Maria de Araújo, Meghan A Bohren, Cathy Vaughan

PLOS Global Public Health | Public Library of Science (PLoS) | Published : 2023

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002409

Abstract

The uptake of male condoms remains markedly low in The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (Timor-Leste), an island nation in South-East Asia. To understand why, we conducted participatory and operational research about beliefs, understanding and access to male condoms from both a community and healthcare provider perspective. We held 14 participatory group discussions (PGDs) with 175 community participants (84 men, 91 women; aged 18-72) across seven municipalities (Ainaro, Baucau, Bobonaro, Dili, Lautem, Manufahi, and Oecusse) in 2019. We held individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 24 healthcare providers working in the same community catchment areas as the PGDs. Two counsellors, four do..

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