The Union health ministry on Tuesday announced introduction of injectable contraceptives in the family planning programme, overcoming objections by activists, who had also approached court against these contraceptives.
“As a part of our continued efforts to offer Indian women a broader basket of choice, a mix of contraceptives - injectable, centchroman and Progestogen-Only Pill (POPs) - have now been introduced in the public health system under the national family planning programme,” union health minister J P Nadda said.
The ministry decided to go ahead with injectable contraceptives after securing approval from the Drugs Technical Advisory Board, which in August 2015 recommended using DMPA in the family planning programmes.
DMPA is the acronym for an injectable contraceptive called Depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate, which is registered in India for use by the private sector since 1993 – a year after it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is sold under the brand name Depo-Provera.
So far every government plan to use injectable contraceptives in the family welfare programme met with stiff resistance from women activists and some non-government outfits.
More than a decade ago, the health ministry told the Supreme Court that the government would not use the injectable in the family planning plan. Towards the end of the last decade, the utility of injectable contraceptives was reviewed once again and last year, a national consultative meeting on expanding the basket of choice in family planning reached a consensus that injectable are now suitable for introduction in the government programme.
“The use of injectable have to be associated with counselling as the women need to be told about the changes in the menstrual cycle. They need to be reassured that the side effects are not harmful and it is reversible. If they stop taking the injection, they can get pregnant,” Ravi Anand from Abt Associates, an outfit that promotes injectable contraceptives, told Deccan Herald.
While the health ministry officials are tight-lipped about the roll out plan and the cost involved, in the private sector, the injectable costs between Rs 90-250 and one shot can protect a woman for three months.