Knowledge and attitude towards family planning among first year students at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Background Historically, there has been a strong resistance against family planning, abortion and other womens rights in many Latin American countries. This is due to a combination of “…a strong Catholic presence, unstable governments and socially constructed gender norms that have proven to be closely guarded by both men and women (machismo)”(Guse, 2010). Argentina, though sporting the sixth highest proportion of elected female representatives in the house of government (2010), is no exception. The sale of birth control devices was actually forbidden in Argentina from 1974 until 1985, and it was not until 2003 that a law was approved assuring the public complete access to modern contraceptive methods. With the law of 2003, the government launched a national program for reproductive health, named the National Health Program about Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation. The program includes, amongst other things, the free distribution of various types of contraception through the national healthcare system. Purpose We wanted to investigate the knowledge of and attitudes toward family planning among first year students at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. Method We conducted an anonymous survey regarding sexual and reproductive health of 672 first year students from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. The data was plotted and processed in SPSS. Results A total of 21.8% of the students had poor communication with their families about sexual and reproductive health. Factors most determinant of student selection of contraceptives were recommendations from doctors and security of the contraceptive. Almost half (48%) of students understood that emergency contraceptives were abortive, and 75% answered that emergency contraceptives must be taken within 24 hours of sexual intercourse. However, 85% of students stated that there were many contraindications in their understanding of emergency contraceptives. Conclusion The survey analysis shows gaps in knowledge, information and practices about family planning. There are important differences in sexual practices between men and women, reflecting a traditional model of gender in which women have more responsibility when it comes to reproductive decisions. Female students are more informed than men regarding access to contraceptives and public health, however there is still a lack of information in both groups. This could indicate that contraceptive care is more dependent upon women than men. There was a notable interest among survey participants in activities and promotion of sexual and reproductive health, which could indicate an insufficiency of this kind of program at the university