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To snip a man's 'pride': Consider vasectomy for sterilization
In Asian countries, tubectomies are eight times more commonly performed than vasectomies.
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Taking responsibility: A man living in Medan Tembung district, North Sumatra, shows his family planning membership card. Sterilization or vasectomy is a choice for male family planning acceptors but is not popular. (Antara/Septianda Perdana)
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s a married man with a child, the thought of choosing the ideal sterilization method in the future has crossed my mind more than once. This seemingly personal preference is backed by numerous studies highlighting the superiority of the vasectomy over the tubectomy.
For years, many developing countries including Indonesia have been pushing national family planning initiatives to maintain population overgrowth. One of the proposed solutions is a permanent one, sterilization.
In Indonesia, however, most married couples are still more likely to depend on nonpermanent methods, such as hormonal pills, condoms and intrauterine devices, than a permanent solution. Short-term methods are more expensive in the long run compared to a lasting alternative.
They also rely heavily on the user’s capability to use them properly. Several problems that may hinder the success of these contraceptives are discontinuation, incorrect use and product failure.
In the future, the demand for permanent methods may increase as the age of women who want to stop childbearing continues to decrease based on Demographic and Health Survey data from 18 countries performed between 2004 and 2010.
The preferred method of sterilization in the world is female sterilization (tubectomy): 19 percent of women are sterilized compared to only 2.4 percent of men. In Asian countries, tubectomies are eight times more commonly performed than vasectomies.
The statistics are perplexing as multiple studies have proven that the vasectomy is superior.
