Jakarta (ANTARA) - Contraception on men has lower risk compared to women, Head of Yogyakarta National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Shodiqin has said.

"Condoms, for instance, have almost no risk. This is because users that suffer from latex allergy are rare," he said a press statement released on Sunday.

According to Shodiqin, complaints delivered by men who use condoms generally only relate to issues of comfort and practicality. Other complaints are rarely reported.

He also explained that contraception with Men Operation Method (MOP) such as vasectomy also only involves mild operation with local anesthesia that can be completed within less than 20 minutes if there is no complication.

"In vasectomy, there are no organs that are being taken away, it only involves cutting and binding the sperm ducts so that the released semen no longer contains sperm," he said.

Because it can no longer become part of semen, the sperm is then absorbed by blood circulation to be utilized by cells or tissues that need them, he added.

The percentage of men who became the participants of the Family Planning program is still very low, Shodiqin informed.

According to data from the Indonesian Demography and Health Survey in 2017, only around 2.7 percent of men became the participants of the Family Planning program.

Of this figure, 2.5 percent are condom users and 0.2 percent are MOP method users.

Data within the BKKBN Family Information System in 2022 shows that there are 2.2 percent of men who use condoms and 0.25 percent of men who underwent vasectomy.

The percentage of men who participated in the Family Planning program in 2022 was only 2.48 percent, which is less than half of the target of 5.33 percent.

This is caused by the existence of a myth or misconception that vasectomy is the same as castration which causes the loss of desire, he said.

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Translator: Hreeloita D S, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Anton Santoso
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