Mayor encourages vasectomy as family planning method

WESTERN PROVINCE NYABIHU — The Nyabihu district acting Mayor, Vestine Gasangayire, has encouraged the use of vasectomy, in a move that is designed to bring men on board, in the family planning campaign. At a function, at the Rwanyeri Health Centre, men who had earlier taken up vasectomy in the testing faze which started five months ago, said the practice was effective without any side effects. Vasectomy is a simple operation of cutting the tubes through which a man’s sperm move, in order to make him unable to make a woman pregnant. Mayor Gasangayire said this family planning approach will help residents have few manageable children. The new method requires men to undergo an operation instead of the much used female birth control methods. The Mayor said that having many children was a threat to the economic development of the district and a source of poverty. This, she said, is the reason the district has launched a mass campaign against big families. The function attracted various district officials, members of the Western Province Seventh Day Adventists Association and officials from Capacity-Intra Health project which is supporting the campaign. Gasangayire, thanked CIH projects for supporting efforts geared at improving people’s welfare and called upon men to adopt the new family planning method. Dr. William Twahirwa, the Project’s vice National Coordinator, commended the district and the Adventist Church for their efforts at educating residents on the importance of family planning. Twahirwa explained that family planning was not exclusive to women, which is why the new method was being introduced. He said that the district was doing everything possible to sensitise men especially those who already have children, to embrace the vasectomy. According to Twahirwa, over 183 men have adopted the new method within the last 5 months and 50 more people have registered to under go the operation, in the district. He disclosed that the services will soon start in Gicumbi district and 11 other districts in which the his project works. Meanwhile, health officials who were trained to implement the method were given certificates. Residents thanked the project implementers for the initiative which they believe, was one of the most effective methods. “We have many cases where men have produced more children outside marriage even when their wives are using contraceptives. This method will therefore produce better results since it is not common for a woman to produce more children outside marriage,” explained Joyce Mukamusoni, one of the residents. However, some women expressed fears that vasectomy might encourage infidelity - since men will no longer fear causing unwanted pregnancies outside marriage. Ends