Women underwent 97% of the sterilisations in Delhi during 2024-25: Data

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Female sterilisation overwhelmingly dominated sterilisation procedures, according to the Health and Family Welfare section of the Statistical Hand Book, Delhi 2025.

According to the data, a total of 14,543 sterilisation procedures were carried out in Delhi during 2024-25, of which more than 97 per cent of the procedures were performed on women.

Only 301 males were sterilised in the same period.

Data show that there is limited change over time, and over the years, the gender skew remains consistent.

During 2021-22, there were a total of 11,655 sterilisations, out of which 317 were performed on men and 11,338 on women. Of a total of 14,470 sterilisations during 2022-23, 14,089 were performed on women and 381 on men.

Doctors say that the data indicate that the burden of permanent contraception continues to fall almost entirely on women.

Dr Arpana Haritwal, a gynaecologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital in Saket, said family welfare services are reaching households, but the choice between male and female contraception remains uneven.

"Although both tubectomy and vasectomy are single-day procedures, tubectomy is far more invasive and costly than vasectomy, yet far more women adopt the procedure," Haritwal said.

She said there are a few societal reasons for women to choose, but patients rarely talk about them in the open.

Data show that tubectomies account for the vast majority of sterilisation procedures carried out in Delhi each year. Male sterilisation (vasectomy) numbers remain negligible.

"In my experience, male contention is of remarriage, family expansion, which applies to females as well. Despite that, the majority of the women go for the procedure," Haritwal said.

Data also show that there is a decline of 13.94 per cent in oral contraceptive use in the period 2024-25, as compared to 2023-24.

Doctors say that the persistently low uptake of male sterilisation, despite decades of policy emphasis on shared responsibility, suggests that awareness, incentives or outreach for vasectomy have not translated into outcomes. PTI VBH VN VN