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Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Health Reporter
Government has dismissed claims by Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede that contraceptives have serious negative side effects on women saying his claims were based on unproven research findings. In a joint statement with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, Government said contraceptives did not cause birth defects or infertility and the allegations by Mr Mudede were misplaced.
“The assertions that these medicines are dangerous and cause birth defects are totally false and without any scientific backing,” reads the statement.
It said Government uses international standards on the use of any medicines and through the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, all medical products, contraceptives included were safe, of high quality and properly registered.
However, Government said like any other medicines or drugs, there could be side effects experienced with the use of contraceptives in a minority of users.
These side effects include headaches, dizziness, abdominal discomfort, irregular bleeding patterns and weight changes.
“Medical and scientific evidence has shown that the benefits of using contraceptives far outweigh the minor side effects caused by their use.”
It said while natural methods of family planning promulgated by Mr Mudede could be used as alternatives, the risk of failure was very high thereby putting women at risk of having unplanned pregnancies.
The joint statement also said as better and newer products were available, older products would be phased out.
“We would like to inform the public that the contraceptives currently being used in Zimbabwe are safe and are the same standard and quality to those used the world over.
“The Ministry of Health will continue with the policy of promoting family planning as a way of improving the health and socio-economic status of the pop- ulation.”
Of late, Mr Mudede – who has no medical background – has been advocating the ban of contraceptives arguing that they were not good for women and had impacted negatively on the country’s population growth which has remained stagnant at 13 million.
Current family planning methods available in Zimbabwe include Depo-provera, jadelle, implanon and Norplant among others.
Online Reporter
Peter Tanyanyiwa