By Margarita Windisch
Depo Provera is a long-acting hormonal contraceptive administered in three-monthly injections. It has been praised by the medical profession for its effectiveness. There is, however, considerable controversy surrounding the drug due to the serious short- and long-term health risks associated with it.
Consumer studies conducted in Australia between 1988 and 1994 found immediate side effects among Depo Provera users such as disrupted menstruation, dramatic weight gain, loss of libido, depression and mood swings, increased body hair, dizziness, kidney problems, breast enlargement and pain, breathlessness and diarrhoea.
According to Family Planning Association research, it is also common for women using Depo Provera to experience delayed fertility — 40% of women were infertile for up to 12 months, and 10% for up to two years, after using it. A New Zealand study conducted by endocrinologist Tim Cundy found clear indicators of long-term risks such as bone loss and breast cancer.
Even though Depo Provera was licensed as a contraceptive in Australia only in 1994, it was previously used extensively as an "off label" prescription, mainly targeted at Aboriginal and migrant women, but also at young or disabled women.
The licensing pharmaceutical company, Upjohn, has tapped into a xenophobic population control sentiment to secure lucrative markets for the drug, especially in underdeveloped countries. The Drug Action Forum in West Bengal reports that in a hearing of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Upjohn admitted to paying bribes of around US$2700 to "employees of foreign governments for the purpose of obtaining sales to government agencies", US$1390 to hospital employees, and "small amounts ... to minor government bureaucrats to expedite government services".
Dr Lynette Dumble from the Department of Surgery at Melbourne University strongly condemns the use of a hazardous drug in the name of population control. Its use, she says, makes huge profits for transnational companies while leaving women to suffer the consequences. "In the name of freedom, population technologies have played havoc with women's lives and threaten to bring about their premature death from illnesses ranging from cancer to sexually transmitted disease."
Dumble also argues against the notion of Depo Provera offering real choice for women. The lack of information surrounding its prescription, she says, makes it impossible for women to give informed consent.
Furthermore, says Dumble, by embracing such drugs society affirms the elitism of population control and blames women for the consequences of consumerism, worldwide militarism, and international trade imbalances on the global environment and public health.
A Melbourne-based women's organisation, Women in Industry and Community Health, is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the licensing for contraceptive use of Depo Provera by the Australian Drug Evaluation Committee.
WICH community program worker and a Depo Provera campaign coordinator, Adele Murdolo, told Green left Weekly that because WICH is a migrant women's service with a focus on women's reproductive and sexual health, the issue of Depo Provera has been a part of its history.
"WICH takes a strong stand against the licensing of Depo Provera as a contraceptive device because of its associated health risks", she said. "Australia has also had a history of eugenic politics, ranging from the systematic attacks on its own indigenous Aboriginal population to a racist whites-only immigration policy.
"Depo Provera is specifically targeted at women located at the margins of society. A lot of health providers over-prescribe the drug in the name of 'individual choice' and say it makes life easier for 'problem groups' such as migrant, Aboriginal, disabled and young 'irresponsible' women."
In this sense, she said, "Depo Provera does not offer women 'choices' in sexual freedom, but subjects them to a dangerous and racist population control technology".
Murdolo says that before the licensing of Depo Provera in Australia there was some feminist literature available giving women information about its effectiveness and heath risks so that they could make an informed choice. "Because of a strong bias in the medical profession and government health agencies", she said, this literature is no longer available.
WICH's campaign aims to address this situation by providing appropriate literature in various languages and participating in radio programs to create community awareness about the drug. The campaign will also focus on health practitioners.
WICH has produced a postcard calling for a parliamentary inquiry and urges people to send it to the Health Commissioner.
Murdolo told Green Left that while the campaign is being conducted only in Victoria at present, there are many women's organisations and individuals worldwide raising their concerns with regards to the drug.
"We recognise the importance of linking up with other organisations and services to combat misogynist practices in women's health", she said. "Depo Provera, like Norplant [a five-year-long contraceptive device implanted into the woman's body] and the anti-pregnancy injection, are part of a broader agenda to control women's reproduction at any cost. Women's right to control their own fertility in a safe way has to be put above corporate profits and discriminatory population control practices."
For postcards or further information about the campaign (available in Turkish, Spanish and Vietnamese), contact Adele Murdolo at WICH on (03) 9416 3999 or at Johnston Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne.