Focusing on hormone-based contraceptives continues to harm our young girls and women passively and nobody is talking about this notwithstanding the long term implications to the demographics and economic implications that this bears.
With the widespread shortage of correct information, continuity of this happening will prove costly to treat hence the insistence that prevention is better than cure.
The normal way of female body functions includes natural production of hormones which function differently at varying times. By extension, advancements in science have enabled the production of synthetic versions of these hormones for scientific purposes, including birth control.
Hormonal methods of contraception exist widely even as over-the-counter drugs in countrywide chemists.
Conversely, this works for the worst since many people learn to not use them according to instruction but as a daily cup of coffee.
In the end, this contradicts the intended purpose, posing harm to the recipients. General risks include about 20 per cent more susceptibility to breast cancer compared to non-hormonal methods, correctly used.
Other effects include nausea, missed or irregular periods and some forms of cardiovascular problems such as blood clots and deep vein thrombosis, especially over the long term.
It is imperative to note that this does not discredit the use of hormonal contraceptive methods but rather calls out for correct use guided by physicians in order to achieve the intended purposes, which is important in family planning.
Health stakeholders should be able to conduct awareness forums on both sides of the coin in order to evade the consequential long term hazards and to cultivate a healthy generation of young girls and women.
Naya Kenya, Kisumu
