DAVAO CITY – The city’s health officers are encouraging openness among men to adapt to family planning methods and other reproductive health issues, in their bid to alter the “very low acceptance rate” to a family planning procedure.
Dr. Samuel Cruz, assistant city health officer, said men should be open to procedures limiting their number of children such as the No Scalpel Vasectomy (NSV) which the City Health Office is offering for free.
Cruz said that data from the Davao City Health Information System show that the NSV has “a very low acceptance rate among Davaoeños.”
In an NSV, “the man’s Vas deferens which carry sperm from the testicles is cut through puncturing a hole in the scrotum area”, he said.
He said the NSV is “better and effective than a ligation procedure performed to a woman”.
A paper from the CHO says NSV is 99.85% effective.
Cruz said that the procedure “is not the same with capon (castration) and won’t affect the man’s penile erection, libido or body strength”.
“Those who have undergone the procedure sometimes use the NSV as an excuse (to cheat with their wives),” he said.
Cruz said that “patriarchal society affects women’s attitude in discerning their rights and exercising their choice”.
Jeff Fuentes, officer-in-charge of the Population Division of the City Health Office (CHO), said “in a male-dominated society, a man’s openness in participating in sexual and reproductive issues is a great factor in the improvement of the situation of women’s reproductive areas.”
With the participation of men, Fuentes said women’s sexuality, safe motherhood, fertility regulation, avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and childbirth, and children’s health will get more focus.
“It is not about age but a decision made by an individual,” he said.
Fuentes said the youngest to undergo an NSV in the city is a 21-year old with six children. He said the average age is 30, where men “reached their desired family size”.
Meanwhile, Fuentes said that while their data shows a very low acceptance rate for NSV, “Davao City is one of the highest NSV generating city in the country.”
Fuentes said their information and education campaigns, their regular free NSV services during weekends and community visitation greatly helped in the increase of their clients.
“Our regular free NSV is every last Friday of the month but if there are 10 or more men in a community requests for an NSW, we immediately go to them,” he said.
Since 2008, a total of 398 NSV clients were provided free services.
Cruz said that they are also joining the World Vasectomy Day to promote more awareness.
Fuentes said that a forum on the “responsibilities of a father” in the Waterfront Insular hotel would be held in November 6 in which they invited barangay captains, regional heads of government agencies and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Fuentes said they are also giving free NSV procedures on November 5 and 7 at the Tomas Claudio Health Center, while a motorcade will be conducted in November 5. (davaotoday.com)
