Reproductive health needs and service seeking behavior of unmarried youth in rural Bangladesh

Marium U Mutahara, Population Council

In Bangladesh, approximately one-sixth of total population is youth. Majority of them has poor knowledge about reproductive health (RH) issues and access to services. Moreover, several factors have heightened the risk of sexually transmitted infections among them. A quasi experimental pre-test post-test design was utilized to evaluate the impact of targeted interventions to increase utilization of health services by youth from the rural government health facilities. Using systematic sampling information was collected from 834 male and 430 female. Study shows majority of them are not aware of the pubertal changes and absence of hygienic practice is common. Specific interventions have been designed to address these issues. Findings suggest that utilization of health facilities by youth has increased. Innovative BCC activities substantially increased awareness of the availability of youth friendly RH services at health centers. Particularly, peer promoters played a major role in motivating youth to receive services from health facilities.