Women living with HIV or at high risk of HIV can safely use hormonal contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said, clearing all speculations involving the issue.
Confusion had surfaced after the British medical journal the Lancet in October last year came out with a suggested that hormonal contraceptives like a pill or injectable contraceptive may increase a woman’s risk of HIV infection.
In fact, the Lancet had also found that women living with HIV and using hormonal contraception may be more likely to transmit the virus to their partner than women who did not use hormonal contraception.
However, based on the advice of its Guidelines Review Committee, a body responsible for ensuring that all WHO recommendations are best available scientific evidence, the WHO on Friday said that women living with HIV or at high risk of HIV can safely continue to use hormonal contraceptives to prevent pregnancy. A thorough review of the evidence about the links between hormonal contraceptive use and HIV acquisition was done before coming to the conclusion.
According to the international health agency, couples seeking to prevent both unintended pregnancy and HIV should be strongly advised to use dual protection — condoms and another effective contraceptive method, such as hormonal contraceptives.
The WHO had convened a technical consultation from January 31 and February 1, 2012 to review findings from all recent epidemiological studies on the issue.
The meeting brought together 75 experts from 18 countries to review existing WHO recommendations in the light of these findings.