New snip service for men in North

VASECTOMY services will return to Townsville following a partnership between Marie Stopes Australia and the Townsville Day Surgery.

The health service left North Queensland earlier in the year, taking with it Townsville’s only abortion clinic.

Now, with the help of the Townsville Day Surgery, Marie Stopes is bringing some of its services back to the region. National director of vasectomy services Justin Low said the organisation was committed to increasing access to the procedure in Queensland.

“We are very excited to partner with Townsville Day Surgery to provide no-scalpel open-ended vasectomy care for people in North Queensland,” he said. “Our goal is to increase affordable and quality access to men and people across the region who are keen to get the snip.”

Dr Low said the service’s vasectomists were trained to deliver fast and painless procedures. “We provide two options that provide a nearpainless service for our clients – they can choose to have an IV sedation or a local anaesthetic,” he said.

“The best part is that if you have private health insurance, there will be no out-of-pocket costs except your excess as we have a ‘no gap’ service at Townsville Day Surgery.

“We have heard that some patients have paid thousands out-of-pocket for a vasectomy in a hospital and that concerns me. I want people in North Queensland who are looking at getting the snip to understand it does not have to be that expensive.”

For uninsured Medicareonly patients, the cost is $650 for local anaesthetic and $750 for IV sedation.

The cost of the vasectomy also includes access to counselling service, STI testing and access to 24-hour nurse-led telephone after-care.