Family planning and the Emergency: an unanticipated consequence.

It is recommended that the official family planning program in India should emphasize male sterilization as much as (if not more than) female sterilization.

Abstract

An unanticipated outcome of the Emergency mass sterilization campaign in India has been a decline in male sterilization. Tubectomies accounted for less than half of total sterilizations in the period before the Emergency; in the years since 1977-78 they have comprised 73-85% of the total. This increasing reliance of female procedures is attributed to greater promotion of tubectomy than vasectomy by the national family planning program. This trend has been facilitated by the introduction of laparoscopic techniques of female sterilization. More advisable would be a greater balance between male and female sterilization procedures. From the program perspective vasectomy services are less expensive and easier to deliver than services for tubectomy and even laparoscopy. Vasectomy is also more demographically effective in its impact. Finally male sterilization is simpler and safer for the patient. It is recommended that the official family planning program should emphasize male sterilization as much as (if not more than) female sterilization.