HIV risk to contraceptive injection

EVIDENCE that one of South Africa’s most commonly used contraceptives‚ the DepoProvera injection‚ increases the risk of contracting HIV is accumulating.

Yet Pfizer‚ the drug’s maker, continues to deny there may a problem.

About half of women accessing government contraception have at least once used the longacting injection‚ according to a 2017 study in the South African Medical Journal.

The injection – needed once every three months – contains the synthetic hormone medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA).

The drug could make it up to 40% easier to contract HIV‚ a 2016 review of all the studies on the hormone and the risk of HIV in women concluded.

However, NET-EN, the contraceptive injection given every two months‚ does not show a risk of contracting HIV.

But the evidence on MPA in human trials is not conclusive‚ due to the quality and type of studies.

The World Health Organisation says it is not clear whether the increased risk could be due to “methodological issues with the evidence or a real biological effect”.

University of Cape Town molecular endocrinologist Janet Hapgood and two international scientists disagree.

They have just published a review of all studies that reveal how the synthetic hormone could affect the body’s immune system and increase the risk of acquiring HIV.

The laboratory data Hapgood has reviewed indicates a clear link between Depo-Provera and HIV. – TimesLIVE