The Legacy of Dr. Ramchandra Murti Kaza: Pioneering No-Scalpel Vasectomy in India
Dr. Ramchandra Murti Kaza is famous in India as the father of no scalpel vasectomy, or NSV as it is known there. Trained as a urologist, he could have had a lucrative career in that field. Instead, recognizing the power of this simple technique to help his country,
he set out to train providers in every state of India, and still has thousands of doctors who are indebted to him for their skills, and who respect him for the enormous project he undertook to assure that Indians had access to this safe, non-invasive method of contraception.
His epiphany occurred after he learned the NSV technique from Dr. Apichart Nirapathpongporn in Bangkok. Developed in China by Dr. Li Shunquiang, NSV was just beginning to be known. Dr. Kaza had already studied vasectomy at the institute of Urology in London, and had also come to the US to study microsurgery for vasectomy reversals, and was part of the faculty of Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, so he was an ideal candidate for teaching NSV. In 1991, he joined the NSV Project, which was a collaboration with the Indian government, UNFPA, and Engender Health to teach no scalpel vasectomy throughout India. He recognized the value of NSV to all of India.
Even now, he exclaims, “It’s such an elegant procedure!”
For five years, while his own children were young, he spent three weeks of every month traveling to districts in every state, teaching the NSV method to 4,500 surgeons, while continuing to teach at his college. “My wife is a saint,” he laughs. “I saw the country’s need for this procedure, and made it my goal. In every life there is a task assigned and we have to do it. This was mine.” He also remembers it as a time when he had the opportunity to listen to men and women regarding their fears and resistance to ending their fertility.
In 2015, Dr. Kaza persuaded the Indian government to adopt World Vasectomy Day as a national holiday. It was celebrated with a fortnight of vasectomy procedures throughout the country. Since then, World Vasectomy Day has become a fixture annually. Unfortunately, as providers retire, and demand for the procedure decreases, fewer providers are trained each year. In spite of the great benefits of vasectomy for family planning, India no longer actively promotes it.
India’s net reproductive rates are declining, and in most states, it’s 1.1. The highest might be 2.0. Temporary methods like IUD’s and injectables have replaced permanent ones, causing both tubal ligation and vasectomy rates to decline. Meanwhile though, abortion rates are still high. Dr. Kaza would like to see more resources go to prevention of unwanted pregnancy.
“Ideally, the government would start providing the funding needed again. Our group of NSV surgeons don’t even have the needed instrumentation. Private systems are not interested in promoting NSV, but permanent methods are still so necessary. Men will spend any amount to make sure they’re not the ones getting operated on,” he notes with a laugh.
The contribution to NSV and to WVD by Dr. Kaza is immense, and we wanted to take this opportunity to both acknowledge and thank him for his lifetime of commitment to this gorgeous, elegant procedure called NSV.
