Denial Mode for Vasectomy among Married Men in Central India: Causes and Suggested Strategies

Vasectomy is considered in India as a very safe, simple and cost effective method as compared to female sterilization. However, the prevalence of female sterilization, a highly popular and practiced method of family planning, exceeds that of vasectomy by a factor of 37 to 1 with a current rate of 4.4%. In a cross sectional study conducted at a rural health training centre field practice area of a tertiary care hospital, the study was conducted by use of a structured questionnaire, which was used for interviewing to all study subjects for assessing the level of knowledge, perception and potential demand about vasectomy among married males in India. Data analysis was done using Epi info version 3.5.1. The awareness of vasectomy was found to be 97%, but their knowledge level was low (54.0%) and 13.0% had no knowledge. The association of knowledge on vasectomy among men and level of education as well as occupation was found statistically significant. Although the majority of participants (54.0%) indicated an approval for a vasectomy, only 1% men were actually practicing it. The potential demand for vasectomy was found to be 21.0%. Information, Education and Communication campaigns followed by Behaviour Change Communication approaches will do wonders for the acceptance and use of Vasectomy by the prospective beneficiaries.