The World Health Organization (WHO) has set global standards for makers of male contraceptives, paving the way for new methods to prevent pregnancy. A Kenyan doctor, Dr. John Kinuthia, is part of the global team that developed these standards. The guidelines indicate that a proper method must be safe, effective, reversible, acceptable to users, and affordable. This development could add another option to Kenya's family planning system, which still depends heavily on women.
Three methods of male contraceptives are currently under development, working by reducing the amount of sperm the body makes, or by stopping sperm from swimming or fertilizing an egg, or from being released during ejaculation. The earliest any of these methods could reach the market is five to 10 years. The WHO's department of sexual, reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health and ageing head, Pascale Allotey, emphasized that contraception should not be seen as the responsibility of women alone.
The Target Product Profile Development Group, which helped develop the new standards for male contraception, met monthly from January to December 2025. Dr. Kinuthia, an obstetrician-gynaecologist and the head of research and programmes at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), is a member of this group. The new methods should be reversible, meaning normal fertility should return after the method is stopped.
The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) found that 57 per cent of currently married women were using a modern contraceptive method. However, 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 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 found that 74.2 per cent of the 1,945 people surveyed said they would probably or definitely use a new male contraceptive. Another international study involving more than 15,000 men from several countries, including Kenya, found that 61 per cent of the men said they would try a new male contraceptive within its first year of availability.
The type of method mattered, with pills being 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. However, these choices have limits, and the new methods could provide more effective and convenient options.
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. This development could broaden Kenya's family planning options, but the promise remains years away, with the earliest methods not expected before 2031.
Key points
- A Kenyan doctor, Dr. John Kinuthia, is part of the global team that developed the standards for male contraceptives.
- The new male contraceptive methods could give couples more choices and allow men to take a bigger role in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
- The earliest any of the new male contraceptive methods could reach the market is five to 10 years.
