‘Oh gosh, am I pregnant?’By LARA PICKFORD-GORDON Saturday, February 9 2008
CARNIVAL 2008 may not have been as safe for many women revellers who are now facing a post season fear of unwanted pregnancies. Several pharmacies yesterday reported an upsurge in the sale of pregnancy test kits and enquiries about the drug Cytotec which is used by some women to induce abortion.
More than 60,000 condoms were distributed over the month-long Carnival season and numerous messages about safe sex were disseminated in the print and electronic media as well as at fetes, panyards and Mas camps.
Newsday conducted a poll yesterday of several Port-of-Spain pharmacies to find out if there was an increase in the sale of pregnancy test kits in the days after Carnival, and while doing this enquiry, Shopper’s Drugs Pharmacy in Town Centre Mall disclosed several women had asked for Cytotec, this week.
Ali’s Pharmacy on Charlotte Street also had several requests but said this had been happening “for a while, even before Christmas time.” Customers were reminded that a prescription is required for the medication. The pharmacy also had an increase in pregnancy test kits sales over the same period. Some pharmacies had normal sales of pregnancy test kits and did not see any increase.
Glennis Hyacenth, executive director of Advocates for Safe Parenthood: Improving Reproductive Equity (ASPIRE) said women attempting to deal with unwanted pregnancies was not an after Carnival problem. She said research indicated an increase in pregnancies during the festive times such as the pre-Carnival period when excessive partying and drinking take place. In a January 31 Newsday report, ASPIRE disclosed that data from the Central Statistical Office showed a 15 percent spike in the number of live births every November and December, nine months after the Carnival season which takes place between February and March.
Although Cytotec, used to treat ulcers, must be purchased with a prescription, people are still getting it over the counter (OTC) because of the “clandestine nature of abortion”.
Head of the Pharmacy Board Andrew Rahaman said Cytotec can be fatal if it was unsuccessful in dislodging the entire foetus. He said excessive bleeding can occur. “People have bled to death,” he confirmed.
Several years ago, warnings specifically on the wrongful use of Cytotec as a means of terminating pregnancies were issued in the media and even posted at doctors’ offices. This followed several deaths attributed to the wrong use of this drug.
Misoprostol is currently marketed by Pfizer Inc as Cytotec. It is used to prevent gastric ulcers.
It is used for uterine evacuation to treat women who experience failure evacuating the contents of the uterus or to induce labour. Studies have suggested that Cytotec may prevent and treat post-partum haemorrhage. As an abortion drug it is used alone or in conjunction with other drugs.
Asked how customers are able to acquire Cytotec OTC, Rahaman highlighted a loophole. He said Cytotec is among a third schedule of about 2,000 drugs which require a prescription to be dispensed.
While checks are more stringent to ensure prescriptions document the drugs dispensed under the schedule of antibiotics and narcotics, this is not the case for the third schedule under which Cytotec is listed along with drugs Cataflam and Ponston Forte.
