Rural men and their attitude towards vasectomy as means of contraception in Ethiopia.

A descriptive study on the attitude of rural men towards vasectomy as means of contraception was conducted in southwestern Ethiopia. A total of 200 men who came to a rural health centre either for treatment or to accompany a patient were included for interview. The mean age of the interviewees was 30.9 and the main occupation was farming (67.5%). The mean number of offspring born to the respondents was 3.5 with 70% of the respondents wanting more children. Fifty-five per cent had heard about contraception before and in this group 31% of the wives used or were using one of the common methods. None of the respondents was against the use of contraceptives and none of them had heard previously of vasectomy as means of contraception. The acceptance of vasectomy as means of contraception was 79%. Twenty-one per cent opposed vasectomy because of the problem of possible loss of children due to death or divorce. The high acceptance rate of vasectomy indicates an unmet need for surgical contraception and the training of health personnel on the 'no scalpel vasectomy' technique. Making this service available, starting at health centre level, is recommended.