City Health Official: Vasectomy does not remove men’s testicles

THE City Population Division (CPD) of the Davao City Health Office (CHO) debunked the notion that vasectomy is a procedure to “kapun” or castrate the male reproductive system clarifying that it would not affect the sex drive and only seeks to prevent pregnancy.

“Kay ang kapun, tanggalon man tong tibook itlog kung atoang ikumpara sa iro, pero sa NSV (Non-Scalpel Vasectomy) dili ta manghilabot og ugat, muscle, nga makapekto sa interest sa kapasidad sa lalaki (When we say ‘kapun,’ it means the whole testicle of the male will be removed but in NSV we are not going to touch any muscles that will affect the sex drive of the patient),” CHO-CPD Acting Chief Jerrielyn Lewis said in an interview with the Davao City Disaster Risk Radio on November 18, 2022.

Lewis said the only part of the male genitals that they will conduct a procedure on is the pathway of sperm.

“Mura ni siyag highway, putlon lang nato ang dalan, pero dili siya kapun nga tanggalon ang tibook (It is like a highway. We are just going to block its pathway),” she said.

She added that vasectomy is just a minor surgery.

“Minor lang ni siya pero wala ni tabas kay NSV mani, meaning dili nato hiwaan ang paint. So, naay portion diha nga atoa lang binaton para makuha nato tong tubo or ang vas deferens, mao ni siya ang highway, atoa ra nang butngan og harang aron di kagawas ang semilya (This is just a minor surgery since this is NSV, which means we are not going to cut the skin. We are only going to remove the vas deferens and then we are going to block it so that there will be no sperm that will be released),” Lewis said.

Lewis said husbands should consider doing a vasectomy if they no longer want to conceive, especially if their wife has some issues in their body and will not be able to undergo ligation.

“Kasi nagtoo ta nga ang paghiluna sa pamilya usa ka desisyon sa magti-ayon, so kung dili pwede si misis naa tay alternatibo kay mister (We believe that family planning should be decided by both husband and wife, so if your wife cannot [undergo ligation], then the husband should [get a vasectomy] instead),” she said.

Also, Lewis said more Dabawenyos are undergoing NSV and are open-minded enough to consider the procedure to manage their family.

“Kadabulan dili gyud mi mawad-an og pasyente or kliyente para sa NSV (We always have patients every month),” she said.

She added that the only side effect of NSV is that men will not be able to impregnate women anymore.

Meanwhile, Lewis said only Davao City offers NSV in Mindanao. She said they also have scheduled NSV every last Friday of the month and the procedure is free of charge. She added that it is open to everyone who would like to avail of the service even outside Davao City.

To avail of the service, Lewis may reach out to them through their Facebook account on City Population Office of Davao or email address at citypopulationofdavao@gmail.com. Interested individuals may also visit the 18 health centers within Davao City. KSD