While previous studies have demonstrated that the use of oral contraceptives can slightly increase the risk of breast cancer among young women, other research appears to have found another concerning link. An African study suggests that women who take birth control have a doubled risk of contracting HIV than women not taking the pill. In addition, an HIV positive woman who takes birth control pills is twice as likely to pass the virus to her uninfected partner compared to an infected woman not taking the pill.
Almost 2,500 HIV-positive women from seven different African countries were involved in the study, lasting from 2004 through 2010. The male partners of all the women tested negative for HIV at the beginning of the study. At the end of the study, however, it was found that 2.61% of the men whose female partners used birth control had contracted the virus, versus 1.51% of men whose partner did not use oral contraception.
The same research team studied 1,300 couples in which male partners were infected but the females were not. Almost 7% of the women who used hormonal birth control were infected by the end of one year, versus only 3.8% of women who were not using hormonal birth control.
“Researchers don’t know precisely how the drugs increase the risk of infection. Earlier studies, however, showed an increase of HIV-infected cervical cells in HIV-positive women after they began using hormonal contraception.”
Related Read: Doctors – Prescribe Emergency Contraception for All Girls Under 17
Other Health Issues
In addition to increased breast cancer risk and the potential increased risks associated with HIV, the pill has also been tied to a few other concerning issues. According to NaturalNews, “the Depo Provera shot [is linked- to infertility and osteoporosis, and the Mirena IUD to spontaneous abortions and even death. The Nuva Ring and the Patch can result in weight gain and blood clots, which can increase a woman’s risk of having heart attacks and strokes.”
Unfortunately, millions of young girls are ingesting these extremely unnatural pills each year, having virtually no knowledge of long-term consequences or fertility tracking.
With this new information, women can now make a more informed choice and a knowingness of what to further research in order to make a more informed choice.
Additional Sources:
Seems like a pretty unethical study. So people not infected with HIV -either with or without using the pill- sleep with HIV infected people and voila: they get infected with HIV. How bizarre…
Infection rates also seem pretty low cause I understood that women are very suseptible to acquiring the virus in the case of unpretected sex. Or did they also use condoms?
So women in Africa should now stop with using the pill? The pill is one of the few things in Africa that can impower women not be dependent on men and high number of offspring. Only monogamy, changed sexual habits and condoms can stop the spread of HIV.
With all the health problems in Africa, why are idiots wasting time & money on bullshit studies like this? ANY woman on The Pill is less likely to use CONDOMS, so of course, her risk of catching AIDS or giving it to her partner if she has it already will increase. But the bc pills aren’t the cause! The biggest health problem African women have is that rampant chauvanism doesn’t allow women to insist that their man use a condom. THAT is what these NGOs & health aid groups need to focus on,
And this report only told half the story re: The Pill & cancer risk. Being on bc pills SLIGHTLY increases a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer, but it also reduces her chance of getting ovarian cancer per the NCI.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/oral-contraceptives
I knew from Day 1 that the Depo Provera shot was bad news & told everyone I knew to stay away from it. It’s much less popular here in the states.But they’re still pushing it on poor women in Africa.