LAUSR

Reaching men is one of the challenges related to targeted health promotion. Societal factors, concepts of masculinities, and gender norms have a strong influence on preventive and health behavior of men. Targeted health promotion and prevention has to consider gender-specific differences in language and information sources to spread preventive messages but often fail to be effective. In Kyrgyzstan, non-communicable diseases account for 80% of mortality, including cardiovascular diseases, and raised blood pressure is the second most common disease for men. The NCD prevention and control project in Kyrgyzstan, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to facilitate behavioral change towards healthier lifestyles by taking a gender-responsive approach to support the utilization of NCD related primary health care services for men. The gender-responsive intervention considers gender roles, norms, and inequalities, understands men's health needs, and pattern of preventive behavior to develop interventions. Data from project studies yielded that for men family members were the primary source of information about NCDs, risk factors and prevention. An assets-based approach is taken, building on the male role in a life-course perspective and a positive approach to the role of men as fathers. In 2019, an intervention, combining a school competition for children with a voucher system for preventive services for fathers and male relatives was conducted. In total, 80,416 males were reached and visited primary health facilities for preventive services (which averaged 20% of the male population over 18 years old); 18,364 (23%) men were newly detected with high blood pressure. Medical workers were made available during special hours to provide men with a consultation. During their visits, all men were screened for risk factors and received a consultation based on PEN protocol 1 and 2. Lessons on gender sensitivity have been learned from this experience.