Emergency Pill Throwing Caution to the Winds ?

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Emergency Pill Throwing Caution to the Winds ?

by Divvy Kant Upadhyay for Daijiworld Media Network, October 15, 2009

You would be really living on Mars if you still haven't come across one of those

latest Ads for Emergency Contraceptive Pills. They have been put up everywhere

to make sure you don't miss them. Even modes of public transport like the

metros, taxis and buses have not been spared. The essence of the message is that

no one, any longer, has to worry about unwanted pregnancy. It's as easy as

walking to the corner drug store on your street and buying the pills.

Can the easy availability and overzealous marketing encourage sexual

promiscuity?

Manipal University VC Dr Raj Warrier , a Professor of Pediatrics who has spent

well over three decades in the USA is concerned that skeptics, some religious

leaders and conservatives are quick to point out that the ads may influence the

uninitiated to perceive that unwanted pregnancy is no more a major complication

of promiscuity and unplanned sex. He says that " birth control has always been a

contentious issue and this `emergency pill' has added a new bone for the

participants to chew on. "

But is a contraceptive only meant to prevent unwanted pregnancy?

Dr B Unnikrishnan, Associate Professor of Community Medicine at Kasturba Medical

College, Mangalore is worried if easy availability and strong marketing of

Emergency contraceptive pills could underplay the role of Condoms as

contraceptives that have the added advantage of acting as barriers in preventing

sexually transmitted diseases, especially like those spread by HIV (Human

Immunodeficiency Virus) as in the case of AIDS or HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) in

the case of Cervical Cancer. Public Health programs across the world have been

advocating Condoms for some reason after all. Will the easy availability of the

new pill decrease the use of condoms? The need to interrupt the sexual act and

the potential to decrease the pleasure of the stolen moment are commonly quoted

deterrents to the use of condoms - could this promote the acceptance of the pill

in the vulnerable and high risk population?

Dr Warrier accepts that emergency contraception is a not new concept and many a

remedy has been touted as the one to use over the decades or millennia. None has

gained the familiarity, notoriety or wide acceptance as the Morning after pill.

Can the targeted, overzealous marketing preaching the use of the easily

available morning after pill change the social fabric and sexual practices of

the urban socialite, the young college students or even the rural youngsters who

now have easy access to TVs, cell phones and pharmacies? He explains that the

forces of economics, medical knowledge and ethics are all involved in many

aspects of health care and the junctions or cross roads are often difficult to

negotiate. He feels education of the public, the physicians and the pharmacists

would be an important factor in the appropriate use of such pills.

Do these pills may meet safety norms enough to be sold over the counter or be

subjected to such massive marketing campaigns and are social concerns being

thrown out of the window in what seem very possible contradictive consequences

of such strong marketing- especially in metro areas? There are very high chances

that in the rapidly urbanizing cosmopolitan culture, the Morning-after pill may

easily be mistaken for that one-night pill.

Drug Controller takes Notice..

As reported by the Indian Express published from Delhi in the first week of

October, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) said that a committee will

be set up to examine whether Unwanted 72 and i-pill, two morning-after

contraceptive pills, now sold over the counter, should be reclassified as

" prescription drugs. " Unwanted 72 is made by Mankind Pharma, Cipla manufactures

the i-pill. This comes after the DCGI sent a letter to the two manufacturers

last month pulling them up for running TV ads it claimed were " misrepresenting

abortion " and pushing the pills as a way to be " tension-free " after sex. The

express added that as per norms, if these two pills are categorised as

prescription drugs, they cannot be advertised. The Drug Technical Advisory Board

is expected to meet on November 9 on the issue.

Late last month, News website livemint website quoted Indian Drug Controller

General Surinder Singh as saying that " There are ethical concerns over these ads

and we have received a number of complaints. In India, there is not enough

awareness on emergency contraceptives, so the situation needs to be tackled

carefully. In most countries emergency contraceptives are sold OTC but this may

not be feasible for us " . The Indian Express report on the issue also hinted that

the issue could take three to four months to resolve.

The story done by livemint adds that Until four years ago, morning after pills

were sold as prescription drugs in India. In September 2005, then health

minister Anbumani Ramadoss announced that in order to " empower women to be able

to avoid pregnancy in such situations as unprotected sexual exposure,

contraceptive accident or forced sex " , the government would allow over the

counter sales of such drugs.

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