DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/18 August) – The City Health Office here today bared that more men this year have availed of the vasectomy procedure compared to last year.
Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, City Health chief, told reporters that between 300 and 400 men this year are now on the wait-list to undergo the procedure compared to only 89 in 2009.
“The trend of vasectomy in the city is apparently increasing and is more than the number of women who are scheduled for tubal ligation,” said Villafuerte without offering an explanation for the increase.
Every month, she added, about 10 to 15 men undergo vasectomy procedures in different hospitals of the city for free.
The city government pays about P12, 000 to P15, 000 for each procedure.
Vasectomy is a minor surgical procedure wherein the vasa deferentia of a man are severed.
About 360 women on the other hand have been scheduled this year to undergo tubal ligation compared to 500 last year, Villafuerte said.
The cost of tubal ligation is almost the same as that of vasectomy, she added.
Both procedures are part of the birth control methods promoted by the government under its family planning program.
Aside from the government-run Southern Philippines Medical Center, some private hospitals are assisting the CHO in performing these procedures, Villafuerte said.
She advised that couples who want to avail of the family planning program services can visit the barangay health centers.
Thickly populated barangays like Sasa and Bucana have four health centers each that can provide information on family planning programs.
But she added that there are only 132 health centers in the city’s 184 barangays. (Keith Bacongco/Mindanews)
