Risky decision

the recent decision of the Supreme Court to include Net En, an injectable hormonal contraceptive, in the family programme has led to controversy. According to medical experts, the contraceptives should not be given to women having hypertension, diabetes, liver problems or to lactating mothers and pregnant women. The side effects, include continuous feeling of nausea and headache. These have been termed as minor problems by the agencies that carried out research on their efficacy. The contraceptive may lead to loss of calcium in the bones. Hence, the use of such contraceptive needs a careful diagnosis of the health status, which is not possible due to bad infrastructure. "When we do not even have adequate facilities to monitor malaria, is it right to include injectable contraceptive in the programme," says Mira Shiva of Voluntary Health Association of India.