Contraceptive used in Africa may double risk of HIV: Study

In the US,it is 1.2 million,or 3 per cent of women using contraception.

The most popular contraceptive for women in eastern and southern Africa,a hormone shot given every three months,appears to double the risk that the women will be infected with HIV,according to a study published Monday. And when used by HIV-positive women,their male partners are twice as likely to get infected than if the women had used no contraception.

The findings present an alarming quandary for African women. Hundreds of thousands suffer injuries,bleeding,infections and even death in childbirth from unintended pregnancies. Finding convenient contraceptives is a pressing goal for health authorities.

Injectable hormones are very popular. About 12 million women between the ages of 15 and 49 in sub-Saharan Africa,roughly 6 per cent of all women in that age group,use them. In the US,it is 1.2 million,or 3 per cent of women using contraception. While the study involved only African women,scientists said biological effects would probably be the same for all women. But concern was greatest in Africa because the risk of HIV transmission from heterosexual sex was so much higher there than elsewhere.

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The best contraception today is injectable hormonal contraception because you dont need a doctor,its long-lasting,it enables women to control timing and spacing of birth without fuss and travel, said Isobel Coleman,director of the women and foreign policy program at Council on Foreign Relations. If its now proven that these are helping spread the AIDS epidemic,we have a major health crisis on our hands.

The manufacturer of the branded version of the injectable,Depo-Provera,is Pfizer,which declined to comment on the study. PAM BELLUCK

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