Men Open Up About Why They Can Use Male Contraceptive Pill // AI-GeneratedKenyan men could soon have more ways to prevent pregnancy after the World Health Organization set global standards for makers of male contraceptives.
Three methods are currently under development, working by reducing the amount of sperm the body makes, or by stopping sperm from swimming or fertilising an egg, or from being released during ejaculation.
WHO said the earliest any of these methods could reach the market is five to 10 years.
A Kenyan doctor is part of the global team that developed these standards, which guide researchers and drug makers on what future male contraceptives should be like. A proper method must be safe, effective, reversible, acceptable to users and affordable, the guidelines indicate.
WHO said Dr John Kinuthia, an obstetrician-gynaecologist and the head of research and programmes at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), is a member of the Target Product Profile Development Group, which helped develop the new standards for male contraception.
The group met monthly from January to December 2025.
Head of the WHO’s department of sexual, reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health and ageing, Pascale Allotey, said contraception should not be seen as the responsibility of women alone.
“Choice is a gender equality issue,” Allotey said.
“Contraception isn't one-size-fits-all. Men and women both need a range of options that reflect what science and innovation can now offer, weighed against convenience, invasiveness, behaviour, reliability and accessibility. Real choice means the confidence and control to choose a method, change it, or stop it.”
The Target product profiles for development of novel male contraceptive methods report indicates the new methods should be reversible, meaning normal fertility should return after the method is stopped.
“The goal of MC development is to identify new methods that are effective, reversible, safe, acceptable, affordable and available,” the report says.
The development could add another option to Kenya’s family planning system because it still depends heavily on women.
The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) found that 57 per cent of currently married women were using a modern contraceptive method.
But 14 per cent had an unmet need for family planning, meaning they wanted to delay or stop having children but were not using contraception.
The new male methods could therefore give couples more choices and allow men to take a bigger role in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Evidence already indicates men are more willing to use new contraceptives than has often been assumed.
A May 2026 study co-authored by Kenyan gynaecologists Dr Nancy Kidula and Dr James Kiarie, published in the journal Contraception, indicated that 74.2 per cent of the 1,945 people surveyed said they would probably or definitely use a new male contraceptive.
Although Kenyan experts were among the 12 researchers who took part in the study, it was only done in Colombia, Ghana, Morocco and Togo, so its findings cannot be treated as a national estimate for Kenyan men.
However, Kenya was included in an earlier international study involving more than 15,000 men from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and the US.
The WHO report says 61 per cent of the men in that study said they would try a new male contraceptive within its first year of availability.
The May 2026 study - Socio-behavioural factors linked to willingness to use new male contraceptives: A cross-sectional survey of men and female partners across four low- and middle-income countries - found that the type of method mattered.
Pills were the most preferred option by men, followed by gels and injections.
The WHO technical report says about 30 per cent of couples globally already rely on male methods such as condoms, withdrawal or vasectomy.
But these choices have limits. Condoms must be used each time, withdrawal is less reliable, while vasectomy is intended to be permanent.
“Men are significant users of contraception; about 30 per cent of couples rely on male methods of contraception. Globally, 21.8 30 per cent of women of reproductive age (aged 15–49 years) rely on male condoms for contraception, while only 1.8 30 per cent rely on vasectomy,” the report says.
The standards also set targets for how well the products should work.
For hormonal methods that suppress sperm production, WHO says future products should aim to prevent pregnancy at levels similar to existing female hormonal contraceptives, while allowing fertility to return after stopping treatment.
Instant analysis
The move could broaden Kenya’s family planning options by bringing men more directly into pregnancy prevention. But the promise remains years away, with the earliest methods not expected before 2031. The stronger immediate story is whether Kenyan men would actually embrace these options. Early international evidence suggests substantial interest, yet affordability, reversibility, safety and cultural attitudes will determine whether new male contraceptives translate into meaningful change in contraceptive responsibility.
