2024-02-12 13:59:48
Detail of the sculpture of “David” by Michelangelo (1475-1564). SCALA / DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS
This is an upheaval in the national contraceptive landscape. Long resistant to vasectomy, French men are adopting this method of definitive sterilization en masse. In 2022, no less than 30,288 operations were carried out by urological surgeons in order to cut the vas deferens which lead sperm from the testicles to the prostate, therefore preventing their arrival in the penis. In 2010, only 1,940 men had used it.
These figures have been made public, Monday February 12, by the Epi-Phare team, led by Professor Mahmoud Zureik, who uses health system data to study the behavior of the French. Alerted by urologists, who observed an increase in demand for vasectomies, particularly among young men, epidemiologists wanted to take stock of this practice. “all the more important since, unlike women, men have very few means of contraception”, insists Doctor Noémie Roland, who led the study. Only one other, in reality: the condom. “In the distribution of the contraceptive burden, this can constitute an important tool”continues the head of the “women’s health” program at Epi-Phare.
The magnitude of the result surprised the researcher. “Such rapid developments are uncommon in epidemiology”, she insists. In twelve years, the incidence among men aged 20 to 70 has increased from 9.8 vasectomies per 100,000 inhabitants to 149.5. Rapid and constant evolution. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of interventions continued to increase, with the exception of a plateau observed in 2020. That year, the Covid-19 pandemic led to the postponement of many surgical procedures not vital.
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In the global landscape of male sterilization, France has long been a bad student, far behind Anglo-Saxon countries, Northern Europe and South Korea. While the prevalence of vasectomy seemed directly correlated with gender equality indicators, France was an exception. No doubt the effect of a pronatalist policy that is hardly compatible with a non-reversible act, argues Noémie Roland. Although, in theory, the vas deferens can be reconstituted, the return to normal remains uncertain. As a result, no campaign has ever been carried out by the health authorities. The urologists themselves seemed reluctant, particularly with young men.
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