Vasectomy proving a viable family planning method

whereas some Rwandan men will think twice, thrice or more about the decision to go for non-scalpel vasectomy as a family planning option, brave Edison Bimenyimana has revealed to Health Times that he is ready.Non-scalpel vasectomy is a simple operation on a man to prevent him from impregnating a woman. It involves minor surgical operation where the vas deferens (the tubes that carry sperm) are cut and sealed using thermal coterie. A relatively new family planning method targeting men, vasectomy was first piloted in Muhanga, Rulindo, Nyabihu and Gicumbi districts. The Ministry of Health reports increasing number of men turning for vasectomy since its official launch in 2010. Dr Leonard Kagabo, from the ministry, was quoted as saying Rwanda was the only country in Africa using the latest birth control method. Even some developed countries had not started using it fully then; only the US, Canada and a few European countries, had begun using this latest method.Edison, 27, and Felicita Mukagahire, 25, got married in 2009. They live in Nyagahenga Cell, Gasura Village, Bwisyhura Sector, Karongi District in Western Province.Edison is a night watchman. During the day, he hangs around Karongi town looking for casual jobs to supplement his meagre monthly income. The wife is a subsistence farmer. The couple has two children, a boy of two years and a girl aged six months. Mama Boy, as Felicita is commonly called by neighbours, had just returned back from Karongi Health Centre when we arrived at her doorstep. She had gone for her InjectaPlan routine. “I go for the injection every after three months. Today was the due date. I never miss it. It is free,” she said. InjectaPlan method has few and minimal side effects, as Felicita confirms, apart from when the doctor’s prescriptions are not followed. The couple has decided to stop at two children. And to be quite sure, Edison and wife have agreed that he, too, goes for a vasectomy.Edison said: “Look, what is the point in giving birth to kids you cannot look after? We are poor so we need to give birth to those we can feed, educate and provide shelter and clothing to. I can’t imagine my children begging on the street of Kibuye town.”Felicita says she suffered a lot with the pregnancy of her second baby. “We are villagers, so we depend on agriculture. Carrying my first born on my back while pregnant was unbearable! Imagine a pregnant mother fetching water, digging, and carrying firewood on the head,” she said. Doing a vasectomy to a man does not stop him from functioning sexually. He can still have a healthy sexual life. The only thing the vasectomy stops is his ability to impregnate a woman. Edison and Felicita confess that they have given up on alcohol to build a stable family. “My wife and I used to drink before we got married. A drunkard has no control over sexual temptations, unwanted pregnancies, HIV/Aids, Domestic violence, etc. So we decided to quit for the good of our family.”Both are strong Christians and go to church every Sunday. Felicita said one day, her church pastor preached that using InjectaPlan method kills a woman’s fertility and it is a sinful in the eyes of Jesus. Edison also asked the pastor about vasectomy. To his dismay, he was told it is an irreligious method. So, that’s the dilemma the two strong Christian are facing. Asked how they learnt about these and other family planning methods, they said through community-based health workers, the radio programme on Insangano Radio about family planning, films and plays (drama) screened by Society for Family Health (SFH) Rwanda. SFH empowers women and couples to lead healthier lives by providing access to family planning and maternal health products and services. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and donors, SFH provides family planning products and services through training, community outreach and multi-media campaigns on family planning methods to increase access to family planning and to overcome the barriers that prevent women from using modern contraceptives.Reproductive Health programmes are also promoted through adolescents in established youth centers managed in collaboration with Rwanda National Youth Council and Ministry of Youth.