Indonesian men will soon have a new option in contraception — a pill.

The National Family Planning Coordination Agency (BKKBN) is introducing contraceptive pills for men as part of its efforts to better control population growth, an agency official says.

“We will be launching contraceptive pills for men soon, to make it easier for men to participate in our national family planning program,” BKKBN head Sugiri Syarief said Tuesday.

“The contraceptive pills were not only discovered by Indonesian scientists, but they also use local ingredients. I hope Indonesian men will not hesitate to use them,” Sugiri said, adding that the pills were being presented as herbal medicine.

This new contraception for men will provide more contraceptive choices as there are currently only two forms of contraception available for men in the country: condoms and vasectomies.

Sugiri said the government was striving to provide the country’s citizens with needed contraceptives, especially for low income people.

In 2011, the agency hopes to have 7.2 million new family planning participants, with 3.28 million of those from impoverished families, he said.

The use of contraception has remained stagnant in the last seven years due to difficulties in access. Currently, only 67 percent of fertile couples participate in the national family planning program.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said the country’s population was 237.6 million as of December, signaling a growth rate of 1.49 percent a year. — JP

Source: The Jakarta Post, 5 January 2011