Many Misinformed About 'Morning-After Pill'
Excerpt By Matías A. Loewy, Reuters Health

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters Health) - Almost six out of ten adults in Argentina have heard of "morning-after pills," but only three percent of adults reported having ever used them, according to the first national survey on emergency contraception.

However, more than one third of adults incorrectly believe the pills are either a form of abortion or cause severe side effects. And only 38 percent of those surveyed said they might take the pills if needed.

Emergency contraception, sometimes called morning-after or day-after pills, are high doses of ordinary birth control pills. If taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, they can prevent pregnancy.

Overall, awareness of the pills appears to be higher in Argentina than in other Latin American countries or even in some populations in America.

"(Day-after pills) are known vaguely by their name, but there is a lot of ignorance and confusion about their effects," said María José Lubertino, coordinator of the survey and president of the non-governmental organization Instituto Social y Político de la Mujer, in Buenos Aires.

Fifty-five percent of Argentinians still consider morning-after pills to be a form of abortion. However, it is thought that the pills prevent pregnancy by halting ovulation or possibly keeping a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

"And you have to realize that fertilization is not the same as conception," Angeles Cabria, senior program officer of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health, in Los Angeles, told Reuters Health. Cabria also heads the Latin American Consortium for Emergency Contraception (CLAE).

The safety of the pills is another matter of concern, according to the survey.

Thirty-five percent of people think the pills have serious side effects, such as hormonal imbalances, sterility, allergy or cancer. In reality, side effects are rare and consist mostly of nausea and sometimes vomiting.

"Women seem to think that they have to pay some price for being allowed to have such freedom," Lubertino said. "We plan to start a massive communicational campaign (about emergency contraception) focused on the groups who need it most," she added.

Two emergency contraceptive products -- specially packaged doses of the pills -- are currently on the Argentine market. They include Imediat-N and Norgestrel Max, made by the local companies Gador and Biotenk, respectively.

Many other people use the Yuzpe method, which consists of high doses of conventional birth control pills.

Last year, the nation's supreme court ruled that an emergency contraceptive was to be forbidden in Argentina because it caused abortion. The ruling attracted national media attention and raised awareness of the method. But the rule has never been put into practice because it only applied to a product that has been retired from the market.

Even though abortion is illegal in Argentina, around 500,000 Argentine women are thought to terminate their pregnancies annually. Between 50,000 and 80,000 women are treated in public hospitals as a result of complications of the clandestine procedures.

About 30 percent of all maternal deaths are considered to be due to illegal abortion.

Results of the survey, which included 1,025 men and women older than 18, were presented here last week at a hormonal emergency contraception meeting organized by CLAE.

Reference Source 89

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