Chronicle Editor
The Kenyan government is under fire for distributing out-of-date contraceptives to women.
Recipients of the implants (which are two small rods put under the skin in the inside of a woman’s arm) reported seeing mould on them.
The implants last for at least five years, though they can be removed if requested. They slowly release a hormone called progesterone — that stops a woman’s body from releasing an egg each month during ovulation.
The allegedly mouldy contraceptives were supplied to different regions of the East African nation through the government-owned medical supply agency, Kemsa.
According to Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, the implants were imported by the UN Population Fund in October last year.
They were stuck at a port in the coastal city of Mombasa because of a tax row between the UN body and the government that took a while to resolve.
The delay caused a shortage of contraceptives in Kenya.
Two months ago Kemsa was also criticised for distributing an HIV medication that was no longer officially in use because of its negative side effects.
That decision was put down to a shortage of the prescribed ARV drugs. — BBC news
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