iPill will harm in long run, survey on contraception and pregnency saftey

Ipill, an emergency contraceptive pill, is gaining popularity among teenagers, despite of repeated warning from doctors aginst its use.Ipill as suggested by doctors is only proved for women aged from 25-45.

“Because ipill is an over the counter product, one doesn’t need a prescription,” says Rahul Arora of Inder Medicos. The trend, says Atul Shah of Atul Medicos, Karol Bagh, is more prevalent among the affluent class. “But the one like ipill is bound to spread,” says RS Gupta of Paras Chemist, Saket. An industry official says, “The iPill is meant for women aged 25 to 45. Chemists should not sell it to youngsters. about ipill

"Ipill can be potentially harmfull",cautions gynaecologist Dr Rita Baksh," since it is a hormonal pill".Frequent use can cause ovarian damage and menstrual problems, especially among younger girls, she adds.

Certain side effects of ipill as mentioned by ISARC reserchers include, reduced sex interest, skin allergies and lose of vigour.Long time effects of a hormonal pill cant be predicted.Continues use may reduce the chances of future pregnency too.cautions reserchers.

We can't miss the hi voltage campaign Cipla has unleashed for ipill. What's interesting is how safe the advertiser has kept his communication. Husbands and wives, birth control and family planning. You know - we Indians have sex only when married and more so use contraception because producing another child into this world would mean additional burden to the nation.

OK, seriously, words like 'family planning' disappeared from our vocabulary approximately two decades ago, along with slogans like 'hum do, hamara do'. The inverted red triangle which was everywhere you turned when I was a kid has been banished.

Heck, we're no longer ashamed of our billion plus population but flaunt is as a dhinchakly large consumer market.

But getting back to the ipill you can see why the advertiser is treading so cautiously. He wouldn't want to be accused of corrupting our Indian youth and so on and so forth.

As the revelries of Navratri draw closer, condom once again has become the worst word. While the NGOs working for AIDS control are steering clear from condom promotion programmes that they usually launch during the festival, the Bajrang Dal has said it will not tolerate any condom promotion or HIV/AIDS awareness programmes around Garba venues this time.

Talking to Newsline, an NGO worker, on the condition of anonymity, said they used to put up stalls at various Garba venues to create public awareness about HIV/ AIDS. This time, however, they will not do so, he added.

Wonder whether the dals will stake out these venues as well!

According to a pharmacist quoted in the report, "sale of condoms rise by about 70 per cent during Navratri". And this year I am sure the Ipill will rock as

well.

"After iPod, Ipill gains popularity with youth", reported the midday

Alka Kumar, a consulting gynecologist at Gurunanak hospital in Bandra, says, “This product is a boon for married women not planning to conceive. But it may be misused by the youth especially during Navratri when unmarried pregnancies go up.”

The reason for all the action around Navratri is related more to opportunity than anything else. A lot of young people, esp girls, are allowed to stay out late. Dressed in sensuous chaniya cholis and whirring to the dandiya beat , hormones are bound to get into a tizzy. Pehle hota tha, ab bhi hoga. Instead of a botched abortion, many a young woman will opt for an ipill.

But the two messages "prevention of pregnancy" and "prevention of HIV/ sexually transmitted diseases" have become independent of each other. The iPill can help with the first bit but do nothing for the second.

It would be terrible if young people decide to adopt the convenient route: Condom nahi hai? Koi baat nahin - you can always use the iPill. So let's go ahead anyways.

That's not what the advertiser has intended, but I bet a lot of folks will interpret it that way. If we accept that the ipill will be used by unmarried guys and girls, we can address this issue.But hello, yeh hai India. We will have to continue the charade and keep promoting 'family planning'.

Why not bring back the red triangle as well? Dunno - it just makes me nostalgic :)