Determinants of Vaginal Cleansing, Application, and Insertion in Tete Province, Mozambique, and Products Used

ABSTRACT

Objective: In this article, we review insertion, application, and cleansing as they include the use of products other than water and have a number of harmful effects. Method: In 2007, a household survey of 919 women carried out in Tete Province, Mozambique, examined 8 vaginal practices. Results: Overall, 10% of the sexually active women reported regularly using these 3 vaginal practices concurrently. Of the women who practiced insertion, 65% used natural substances. A wider variety of products was used for applying substances on the external genitalia and for cleansing purposes. Conclusions: These findings have important implications for future HIV prevention, including in the use of microbicides.

KEYWORDS.:

• Vaginal practices
• intravaginal washing
• insertion or application of vaginal products
• Mozambique

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Gender, Sexuality, and Vaginal Practices (GSVP) Study is a project of the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Program on Research, Development, and Research Training in Human Reproduction. The GSVP Study group would like to thank Ms. Jane Cottingham and Dr. Tim Farley of the WHO Reproductive Health and Research department for their support of this study. In Mozambique, the research was carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Regional Centre for Health and Development Tete Provincial Directorate of Health, WHO-Mozambique, and The International Centre for Reproductive Health. The GSVP Study group would especially like to recognize and thank all of the women and men who agreed to speak with us and to share their thoughts and experiences about this sometimes sensitive topic. Without their openness, this research would not have been possible.

Funding

The study was made possible through the generous support of the Australian Agency for International Development, the Australian Research Council, the Flemish Government, the Ford Foundation, UNAIDS, and WHO.