The number of men who have undergone sterilization vasectomy more than doubled last year, from 248 in 2021 to 557 in 2022 according to the 2023 Economic Survey report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The Economic Survey Report 2023 released on Wednesday shows 334 men underwent vasectomy in 2020, 658 in 2019 and 646 in 2018.
“There was an increase in the uptake of permanent family planning methods with the number of women undergoing tubal ligation (TL) rising by 13.6 per cent to 4,107,” the report says.
A vasectomy is a minor surgical procedure for men that is a 100 per cent effective form of birth control but can be difficult to reverse.
The procedure prevents sperm from entering the semen ejaculated during intercourse.
Experts advise that one should only have a vasectomy if he’s sure that he doesn’t want more, or any, children.
After a vasectomy, men have to submit semen samples after about 12 weeks to make sure there is no sperm or at least no viable sperm. Once tests have confirmed that your semen is sperm-free, the vasectomy is considered successful and you can stop using additional contraception.
According to the report, the number of new clients for all the contraceptive methods declined during the period under review, except for pills and sterilization for both males and females.
“In 2022, Family Planning injections remained the most used method of contraception with 2.6 million clients followed by implants insertions with 1.1 million clients,” the report shows.
The Economic Survey shows that Bilateral Tubal Ligation (BTL) sterilization among females had been slowing over four years, falling from 10,814 in 2018, to 8,971 in 2019, 4,435 in 2020 and 3,616 in 2021 before rising marginally to 4,107 last year.
A BTL is a surgical procedure that involves blocking the fallopian tubes to prevent the ovum (egg) from being fertilised. BTL sterilisation results in mechanically blocking or interrupting the fallopian tubes to prevent sperm from fertilising the egg.
