Vasectomy sieves sperm NOT Semen

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

When i raised the issue of Vasectomy as an alternative family planning measure, i got emails from men who said they would never consider this simple but effective operation. Reasons cited were: loss of libido, interference when urinating, lack of sexual satisfaction etc.

So i asked Dr Mulindi Mwanahamuntu, a gynaecology consultant at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), to hopefuly put the minds of our men at ease.

This is what the doctor had to say;

"All these questions are because people confuse or do not understand the difference between sperm and semen. Sperms are small cells that can't be seen by the naked eye but contain DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) that when lodged into an egg, a baby is formed. Semen on the other hand is the fluid or whitish liquid that comes mainly from the prostrate. This fluid is confused with sperms.

Even men who do not have sperms or who have dead or malformed impotent sperms do release this fluid since it is released during climax. Vasectomy does not disturb this fluid called semen. Vasectomy only closes the tubes that bring sperm to be carried by  the semen.

Think of it like this: A river is the semen, some dirt, silt or small branches of trees in the river water is the sperm. If you put a wire mesh to remove or sieve out the dirt, branches or some stony silt, does the river stop flowing? Not at all. But only crops down the river will suffer because the silt which fertilizes them has been removed. When a man is vasectomized, the only thing that suffers is the egg in the womb because the cell (sperm) is not there to fertilize!" PYM

HPV vaccine, still your choice!

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

Thought about keeping this to myself but on second thought decided i need to make this very CLEAR. My posts on the HPV Vaccine  on my Facebook Page  are not meant to FORCE any of you to have your children vaccinated. I got a call from one angry parent who accused me of being USED to advocate for a vaccine whose efficacy is yet to be proven. She said i should be ready to take responsibility when the side-effects of the vaccine begin to show on the vaccinated children.

On the page, we have had several debates on the HPV vaccine with parents in support and those against, and i have shared information gathered from experts and in some cases added names of some of the experts spear heading this campaign. Now if you as a parent feel the vaccine is not for your child, then, by all means, do not allow her to be vaccinated. It is your right! But what i will continue to do is share whatever information i come across to allow parents make informed decisions.


Her last question to me was, 'If you had a child, would you allow her to get the vaccine?' My answer was YES. And i came to this conclusion after much research 'online and interviews with Cancer experts and parents in and outside Zambia who have had their children vaccinated.'

Dr Mulindi Mwanahamuntu chats with girls at the HPV vaccine Launch

In addition, i personally know people who had cervical cancer and the damage the disease can use. So, let me make this clear again, i am not forcing and neither is the government forcing parents to get their children vaccinated. That final decision is yours as a PARENT. It was not a nice call but i understand, even in my old age, my 'guardian' still worries about me, and here we are talking about the lives of little girls.  Stay blessed all and stay healthy. PYM