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Pollock has performed upwards of 25,000 vasectomies over his career, not just one of the largest volumes of the procedure in Canada, but worldwide.

To put that number in perspective, that’s more vasectomies than have been performed in the history of Kenya, according to Jonathan Stack, founder of World Vasectomy Day. (Last year, there were 100 estimated vasectomies performed in Kenya, he said.)

Almost 1,000 doctors are participating worldwide, performing more than 10,000 vasectomies.

“In Africa in particular, it has generally been the case that men expect women to take care of birth control,” Pollock said. “In many case the expectation is female sterilization after the family is complete.

“African men are being urged to reconsider this as the primary option. While a failed vasectomy, which is exceedingly rare, ends up as a normal pregnancy, a failed tubal ligation (a woman having her tubes tied) can result in an ectopic pregnancy (outside the uterus, such as in a woman’s Fallopian tube), a leading cause of maternal mortality.”

Pollock said he doesn’t see much stigma attached to vasectomies among his patients. In fact, he said, he has some of his most pleasant conversations while performing the procedure.

And in Canada as a whole, the 22-per-cent of men who are of reproductive age who have had a vasectomy is among the highest rates in the world.

In the U.S., it’s 11 per cent; in Africa it’s 0.1 per cent.

Worldwide that number is 2.2 per cent, while female sterilization sits at 18.9 per cent, Pollock said.

“A vasectomy is a safe, reliable form of birth control that can be done, not only in our wonderful city and country, but in Third World countries.

“Our goal is to bring greater awareness to this.”

gordmcintyre@postmedia.com

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