Life
Hormonal contraception may double HIV risk in women
Friday, October 7, 2011
Hormonal birth-control injections may double a woman’s risk of contracting HIV and passing it on to her partner, according to a new study. The research comes at a time when many governments are looking to scale up their family-planning programs in a bid to reduce maternal mortality.
The study, which was carried out among 3,790 heterosexual couples in Africa, showed that using hormonal contraceptives doubled an HIV uninfected woman””s chances of becoming infected with HIV.
The research emphasizes the need for couples to use condoms in addition to other forms of contraception in order to prevent pregnancy and HIV.