BENGALURU: All states and Union territories in the country observed Vasectomy Fortnight from November 21 to December 4 where male sterilisation services were provided at public health facilities.
Karnataka saw only 306 operations with four districts registering zero procedures. Chikkamagalur, Haveri, Ramanagara and Shivamogga districts did not see anyone coming forward for the procedures, according to data available with the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
This isn’t surprising considering that the state lags behind the national average of 0.3 per cent in male sterilisation with just 0.1 per cent of the population getting sterilised, according to the 2015-16 National Family Health Survey-4. Female sterilisation, on the other hand, is 48.6 per cent in Karnataka, according to NFHS-4, against the national average of 36 per cent.
“Male participation in adoption of family planning has been a challenge particularly in terms of raising public awareness around promoting male engagement in family planning services. The promotion of male participation is vital to the success of the family planning programme,” a Union Health Ministry statement said.
The Vasectomy Fortnight was conducted in two phases. The mobilisation phase (November 21–27) was utilised for awareness generation on the benefits of male contraception. The service delivery phase (November 28–December 4) saw all districts and blocks organise for provision of male sterilisation services during the dedicated fortnight. Despite vasectomy being non-invasive with no use of the scalpel, it saw minimum takers.
Dr Hema Divakar, Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India Ambassador to the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, said, “Contraception in the state is good, but when it comes to selection of methodology of contraception, even the world over male vasectomy rates are low.”