Sibomana Eugene at 50 and and his wife Claudine Uwamariya aged 40 decided their best family planning method to be vasectomy.  This was a couple among 16 clients who received Vasectomy in different health facilities after the practical training of medical doctors to improve their competency and provide services on Vasectomy and tubal ligation to clients in need in their respective hospital catchment area.

Karongi district authorities conducted sensitization campaigns through radio talk show on community radio to raise awareness on the importance of family planning, linkage between the health insurance and Family planning, services available and SRH indicators in their District. After sensitization and discussions with his wife, Sibomana agreed to undergo vasectomy to support his wife who had been using short term methods of family planning for all the years.

“My wife and I decided that I should go for vasectomy because did not want the risk of getting another child. What mattered to us is the wellbeing of our children; feeding them, supporting their education as scholastic demands increased as they were growing, and health insurance coverage,” said Sibomana. 

This predominant use of short-acting methods may be in line with client preferences, but is more likely a result of more limited access to long-acting reversible contraception and permanent methods. Expanding access to a wider range of methods has been shown to result in higher overall contraceptive use and offers clients more choices and ways to exercise their right to choose the number and timing of the children and their partner’s desire.

Sibomana said that many men fear vasectomy “because they think it is akin to castration and discouraged by fellow men especially when they meet to share what he called an evening drink” He urges all Rwandans to practice family planning. “All of us should be responsible. We should not produce children who are a burden to others. Government should do more to promote family planning,” he said

UNFPA provided medical equipment and funded the training of doctors on long term methods for family planning to be able serve clients who wish to take such methods. UNFPA in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Center, district hospitals and health centers also continues the campaign to popularize all methods of family planning including vasectomy.