Mobile Population and Sexual Health in China
Recently China has been facing mass migration of people within the country and people from other countries moving to China due to rapid industrialization which the country has realized. China has been rapidly constructing industries attracting investors as well as workers who want to work in the various firms. However, due to the large population, sexual health among the mobile population has brought concerns to the health sector and the public in general.
Many migrants lacked information about a sexual and reproductive health issue. According to (Zheng et al., 2001), about 65% had heard about the existence of STIs diseases but didn’t know the numerous examples of the STIs. Approximately 75% had not used contraceptive methods in their sexual lives. In the survey, about 14% of those who had sex in the month of the survey had used condoms (Zheng, et al., 2001). Factors which have promoted such worrying statistics among the migrants in China are attributed to the cultural, social and ethical practices of the mobile population.
Cultural factors that have led to lack of sexual health awareness involve the beliefs and values people consider as important to their sexual lives. Rampant sexual activities in China have associated with beliefs that sexual activities enhance emotional, psychological and physical health (Zheng, et al., 2001). Many people believe that low sexual activity was a risk factor for prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. The increased sexual activity could raise blood flow in the penis, and decrease the potential of acquiring hypertension, cardiovascular events, better homeostasis and even higher quality of life (Lin et al., 2005). The use of sexual acts as a source of physical pleasure and source of joy has boosted sexual activity among the China population and has tremendously interfered with sexual health as recommended by the health sectors.
Social factors form the majority factors which promotes rampant sexual activities among migrants. Taking into consideration the fact that the mobile populations are mostly new people in an area, the change of environment and interaction with newer people leads to the formation of a new relationship among the population. The education background of such people is of low level thus most lack knowledge on the use of condoms, drugs or other protective measures to mitigate risks of unhealthy sex (Choi et al., 2004). Age is also another factor which has proved a determinant of rampant sexual activities whereby the young adults leads (Zheng, et al., 2001). Young adults are more sexually active than aging population. The other factor involves the fact that as the migrants are moving, they are idle as they look for jobs so they have more time to look for partners and practice sex (Choi et al., 2004). Demographics and the varying races and ethnicity promote sex among the mobile population since they come from various backgrounds and once they reach urban centers, no one controls them, therefore migration acts as a source of freedom to the migrants (Zheng, et al., 2001). Another factor to be considered is the low standards of living among the mobile population, most of the migrants are doing manual jobs and unskilled jobs so they cannot afford health care services (Choi et al., 2004). Some are unable to pay for the drugs.
Ethical factors include lack of focus and misuse of offices by the government officials who are concerned with promoting sexual health among China’s population (Lin et al., 2005). Some Lack of moral values since some are married yet they look for partners in urban centers.
Recommendations
· The concerned sectors to run a campaign awareness to educate people on the sexual health and its importance
· Provision of better health care and free services in public hospitals so that lack of finance should not be an excuse
· Guide and counseling of young adults on the importance of faithfulness
Potential barriers to effective implementation of the recommendations include:
· Lack of enough funds to run the campaign and educate people
· Non- cooperative government
· Language barrier especially to the non-educated population
References
Zheng, Z., Zhou, Y., Zheng, L., Yang, Y., Zhao, D., Lou, C., & Zhao, S. (2001). Sexual behavior and contraceptive use among unmarried, young women migrant workers in five cities in China. Reproductive Health Matters, 9(17), 118-127.
Lin, D., Li, X., Yang, H., Fang, X., Stanton, B., Chen, X., … & Liu, H. (2005). Alcohol intoxication and sexual risk behaviors among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 79(1), 103-112.
Choi, K. H., Gibson, D. R., Han, L., & Guo, Y. (2004). High levels of unprotected sex with men and women among men who have sex with men: a potential bridge of HIV transmission in Beijing, China. AIDS education and Prevention, 16(1: Special issue), 19-30.