| Vasectomy becoming popular discussion | Send to a friend |
| Thursday, 12 August 2010 22:36 |
 By George Sembony, BabatiVasectomy, that male sterilization by surgical excision of the vas deferens, the thin duct that carries sperm cells from the testicles to the prostate and the penis is fast becoming a popular talk among reproductive health stakeholders but how acceptable is it? Last year, at the Mrara Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) clinic of Babati, Manyara Region, a man came to seek Family Planning (FP). He was accompanied by his wife. Narrating the incident, the Regional RCH Coordinator, Hilda Njidile said that the man said that he has had enough with fathering children. He said that he has five children, already, plus his brother’s child to care for at home. He does not like to have more. Ms Njidile said that the man sought to have vasectomy and with the consent of his wife, but the spouse was not about to undergo sterilization to stop bearing children. ‘I am undergoing vasectomy and I don’t like to hear anything like my wife being pregnant after this,” she quoted the man as saying. This is only one man who has had access to such information. Reports from the RCH unit said only four people have undergone vasectomy between last year and July this year, showing that the vasectomy reception among men in Manyara Region is still very low. ‘Only one man underwent such service last year and this year so far we have had three men who underwent such service,” she said. This is also true elsewhere in Africa. Vasectomy is the least known method of modern family planning but could be the most feared. According to information made available from an interagency workshop organized by Family Health International, EngenderHealth and the ACQUIRE Project December 3-5, 2003, in Africa, fewer than one of every four women know about it. Even when men and women are aware of vasectomy, their understanding is often incomplete or incorrect. Many men believe that vasectomy is akin to castration. They fear that if they are vasectomized, they will not be able to ejaculate; will become impotent, studies have shown. In Nigeria, according to the International Health, the official journal of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, questionnaires given to 146 randomly selected men showed that only 10 (6.8 per cent) accepted vasectomy with the knowledge they have while 130 (89.0 [per cent) would not. Eighty-eight (67.7 per cent) believed sterilization procedures should be left for women only while vasectomy was viewed as castration by 55 (40.7 per cent). Forty-three (31.2 per cent) considered vasectomy if they understood that it was not associated with problems, 82 (59.4 per cent) refused while 13 (9.4 per cent) did not know if they would ever accept the procedure. This was indicative that there was a lack of knowledge of vasectomy and attitudes towards it were based on myths and misconceptions regarding the procedure; “some may accept it if they understand the safety of it and interestingly, the level of education does not improve vasectomy uptake,” the study found calling for a concerted effort to involve men in reproductive health. In some settings, promoting vasectomy may be particularly difficult, requiring rigorous, long-term efforts to change social norms, said Dr. Alfred Yassa, Senior Health and Communication Advisor, Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Yassa said he feared that in Africa, "vasectomy is a non-starter. The problem goes beyond awareness, quality, or access. Society there is male-dominated and virility is very important. Procreation is the only manifestation of virility and that matters for family and society." Margarita Diaz, president of REPROLATINA, Brazil, added that "in our Latin American experience, men think about sex and they worry that vasectomy could affect their sexual performance, so any campaign that talks about this is important." The situation is not far from the truth in Tanzania. Explaining the reason for the low reception to vasectomy service in Manyara region, Ms Njidile said that customary and traditional attitudes that are male chauvinist are largely to blame for the problem. She said, however, that very little awareness campaigns targeting men have been undertaken in the region. “We merely depend on normal RCH Clinics where we encourage mothers to bring their husbands with them during clinic days,” she said. The FP service provider at the clinic, Nurse Olipa Abong said that even that method is not bearing fruit because very few men are accompanying their wives at clinics. “We have an average of 50 mothers attending clinics at one session but you can only have about five men who accompany their wives,” she said. She said that some men would only agree to come if you mention that you have a very special thing to say about his child, but said even such attendance was an achievement. She said that men shied away from such clinics in the past and having a few them attending was an achievement. The nursing in charge, Nurse Suzan Mallya said the problem was imbedded in the system which traditionally set aside such clinics for women and children. “Even the name Maternal Health Care (MCH) suggested that those clinics were for women,” she said. Ms. Mallya said that it was only in recent years that the name was changed to RCH meaning the both men and women were required to attend such clinics. She said that it was important to increase awareness programs through more outreach, but the government should increase the budget for such undertaking to get more men to understand the importance of having such services as vasectomy. Efforts by such agencies as EngenderHealth which since 1982 has been a partner with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and other local groups to make lasting improvements in the quality and availability of reproductive health care services should be encouraged. According to the Arusha Field Officer, Rehema Kahando, Initially, EngenderHealth’s efforts focused specifically on increasing access to family planning at 35 sites. “Today, our programs reach 4,771 sites encompassing such programs as Expanding Contraceptive Options, Increasing Access to Post abortion Care Services and Engaging Men as Partners. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
