The Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department on Thursday launched ‘Antara’, an injectable contraceptive, which will be made available at all government hospitals and medical colleges in the State.
Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar, who gave away the contraceptive to a few patients at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said Antara would increase the available choices of contraceptives and help with the spacing of children, thereby improving maternal and infant mortality rates. “It is an intramuscular injection and needs to be taken every three months,” he said.
The contraceptive, DMPA (Depot Medroxy Progesterone Acetate) contains synthetic progesterone. Doctors at the launch said DMPA could be used by women between the ages of 18 and 45 and that it was reversible: women could conceive 7 to 10 months after stopping the contraceptive. “The advantages are that it can be used during breastfeeding, it improves anaemia and also acts as protection against some forms of cancer,” said one of the doctors. Another said that while intrauterine devices like Copper-T were completely safe, some women were scared of using them and preferred injections. Each vial costs ₹234 and will be administered by a trained doctor or nurse. A total of 460 doctors and 1,000 staff across all the 32 districts have been trained. Women will receive follow-up cards so that they can be reminded to come in again, doctors said.
Effective method
According to a reference manual issued by the family planning division, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, DMPA is a safe and highly effective contraceptive method.
However, it does cause changes in the menstrual cycle like irregular/prolonged bleeding and amenorrhoea. Other effects may include change in weight, mood swings, headache and decrease in bone mass.
As per the National Family Health Survey 2015-16, Tamil Nadu’s fertility rate is 1.7, lower than the national rate of 2.2. The current use of family planning methods among married women between the ages of 15 and 49 is 53.2%, while the unmet need for family planning in this group is 10.1%.
Existing contraceptive methods include condoms, oral contraceptive pills, intra-uterine devices, male and female sterilisation.
