Pune: A mere 100 men opted for the non-scalpel vasectomy for family planning in the city from April till October this year. The data with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for the same period show that around 2.8 lakh persons preferred condoms and around 15,000 women oral pills for the purpose. The data were collected by 30 family welfare centres of the municipal corporation and over 500 private hospitals apart from Sassoon General Hospital
PMC family welfare bureau head Dr Anjali Sabne said on an average, 200 men undergo non-scalpel vasectomies a year as against 15,000 women who go in for a tubectomy as a family planning control method. And this means only three per cent men undergo vasectomy in the municipal limits.
An incentive of Rs 1,100 is now being offered to encourage more men to enrol themselves for vasectomies besides camps being organised at Kamla Nehru and Sonawane hospitals from November 28-30 and December 1-3. Posters, pamphlets and other educative material on the importance of non-scalpel vasectomy have already been distributed to family welfare centres.
As many as 7,653 tubectomies — both abdominal and laparoscopic surgeries — were held from April till October. Sabne said as many as 6,347 underwent sterilisation after two children.
Gynaecologist Dr Sanjeev Khurd said men do not really want to talk about vasectomy and prefer their wives to undergo sterilisations despite awareness campaigns over the years. There is a misconception that there could be a loss in physical strength, sexual desire and performance after a vasectomy. Poona Obstetric and Gynaecological Society (POGS) feels those who had undergone non-scalpel vasectomy are the best ambassadors to promote male sterilisations. “We held several functions to felicitate such men,” Khurd said.
Meanwhile, an eligible couple survey conducted mainly among the low income group — in slums and among the migrant population — studied as many as 7.37 lakh persons, of whom 1.20 lakh were identified as eligible couples. The use of contraceptives was registered among 91,001 persons. “We will now survey the remaining and find reasons for the non-use,” Sabne said.