DKT International Celebrates World Vasectomy Day: The World's Largest Male-Centric Family Planning Movement

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DKT International is honored to sponsor the fifth annual World Vasectomy Day in Mexico City on November 17, promoting gender equity and shared responsibility in family planning efforts.  

"We are proud to support World Vasectomy Day's mission and celebrate the men who are helping to prevent maternal deaths. This event catalyzes the discussion of a man's responsibility in family planning and raises awareness of vasectomy as an important and viable option," says Ana Karina de la Vega, DKT Mexico Country Director. "This event aligns with DKT's out-of-the-box social media marketing tactics in reaching women and couples with messages of family planning and contraceptive options."

World Vasectomy Day has over 1,000 participating providers in more than 50 countries anticipated to do over 10,000 vasectomies as part of this year's fifth anniversary celebration. Since World Vasectomy Day's inception, they have worked in Bali to refurbish mobile buses for rural outreach, there has been an increase in Planned Parenthood clinics offering vasectomies in the US, India has adopted World Vasectomy Day for a fortnight each year and Kenya has seen a 300% increase in vasectomies since hosting the event in 2016. 

This year there will be events in over a dozen countries, including promotional road trips, a full-day vasectomy seminar for medical students and live vasectomies shared with the public to demonstrate the simplicity of the procedure. It all culminates in a 24-hour 'vasectomy-thon' on the day itself, during which live-streamed interviews of men receiving vasectomies will be shared from all over the world, including information about access to vasectomy providers, conversations with leaders in family planning, a range of visual media including documentaries and animations as well as contributions from wives, partners and mothers. 

World Vasectomy Day is more than just a one-day observance; it is an ongoing social media communications project that unites men, vasectomy providers, public and private health care stakeholders, global sponsors, and Ministries of Health and Public Planning in a mission to increase male participation in family planning.

"We know men, both informed and uninformed, can be resistant to a vasectomy. In many cultures, giving up one's fertility is stigmatized," says Jonathan Stack, Co-Founder of World Vasectomy Day. "We are proud to have emerged as the largest male-oriented family planning event in history in response to this. We do not measure our success by the number of vasectomies alone, but by the quality of conversations we launch about gender equity and responsible masculinity"

DKT International offers an increasingly wide range of contraceptives and works with distributors who stock supermarkets, drugstores and wholesalers to ensure easy access to contraceptives for all. In Mexico this year, DKT launched an oral contraceptive and a one-month injectable contraceptive. DKT's condom brand Prudence is the top-selling brand in Mexico.

Since 1989, DKT International's core mission has been to provide safe and affordable options for family planning and HIV prevention through social marketing in 33 populous countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia encompassing nearly 62% of the world's population. 

SOURCE DKT International