Sterilisation Numbers Rise for Women, Drop for Men in NFHS
49.4 percent of women surveyed in Tamil Nadu underwent sterilisation done in 2015-2016.
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A recent survey by National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) has revealed that male sterilisation in Tamil Nadu dipped from 0.4 percent in 2005-06 to 0 percent in 2015-16. But 49.4 percent of the surveyed women had undergone sterilisation in 2015-16.
In Karnataka too, male sterilisation dipped from 0.2 percent in 2005-06 to 0.1 percent in 2015-2016. West Bengal also saw a dip in the male sterilisation percentage from 0.8 to 0.1. In Bihar, it went down from 0.6 percent to 0 percent.
Dr R Govindarajan, the Head of No Scalpel Vasectomy Programme at Kilpauk Medical College in Tamil Nadu told The New Indian Express that men usually do not come forward for the procedure. Even after they are informed that a vasectomy is an easier procedure than a tubectomy, men and their family still remain worried about it.
A senior government doctor said that societal stereotyping has multiplied this problem. He added that whenever a man is asked to go for a vasectomy, his wife is immediately ready to go for the procedure instead of her husband.
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