The Sunday Mail
The new Marvelon 28 pill
Marvelon is a monophasic pill and each of the 21 tablets has the same dose of hormones in it. These are synthetic versions of the naturally occurring female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone.
THE Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) has unveiled a new birth control pill.
The new pill, Marvelon 28 is taken orally like other birth control pills with the objective of preventing pregnancy.
The Marvelon 28 pill was introduced early this year.
The new product also has 28 tablets in a packet which are all white. Instead of the brown line in the commonly known birth control pill pack, the Marvelon pack has seven tiny tablets.
They work the same way as the control pill and can be substituted for the latter with no problems or risk.
The pill was acquired after funding challenges at the end of last year, which saw UNFPA bailing Zimbabwe out, albeit with a different brand.
ZNFPC executive director Dr Munyaradzi Murwira said their organisation strives to improve the method mix and the range of products available in the country.
“The ZNFPC with funding from UNFPA agreed to bring in Marvelon to compliment the current products, increase choices for clients and to improve the stock situation of oral contraceptives in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“It is a modern contraceptive which is extremely effective and reliable if taken correctly.”
Marvelon tablets are a type of hormonal oral contraceptive, commonly known as a ‘birth control pill or combined oral contraceptives’.
Marvelon is a monophasic pill and each of the 21 tablets has the same dose of hormones in it. These are synthetic versions of the naturally occurring female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone.
Ethinylestradiol is a synthetic version of oestrogen and desogetrel is a ‘third generation’ synthetic form of progesterone.
Though the distribution began in Harare and Bulawayo, gradually the new pill will be distributed to other cities.
According to ZNFPC, 59 percent Zimbabwean women using family planning and of these, 41 percent are on oral contraceptives.
The Marvelon pill works by suppressing the natural hormone cycle in the woman, making it one of the most effective oral contraceptive methods available. Users experience less painful periods and less heavy periods, allows improvement of premenstrual tension (premenstrual syndrome), as well as enable regular cycles for those with irregular periods, reduces incidences of functional ovarian cysts and also reduces the incidence of cancer of the ovary and endometrium.
However, before taking Marvelon pills it is recommended that users should consult their doctor or pharmacist or clinic nurse or visit a family planning clinic for informed decision making.
Users should desist from buying contraceptives in the streets because vendors lack expert advice and there is poor storage of contraceptive which render them ineffective.
Family planning services are largely free in the public sector. However, private sector, some local authorities and some NGOs charge a nominal fee to cover administrative costs.
At ZNFPC clinic oral contraceptive pills cost US$1 for six cycles so that every user can afford them. There are exemptions for special circumstances, including the disabled and the victims of rape and those communities in crisis situations who get medication for free.
Government through ZNFPC is working on encouraging women, men and couples to adequately space their children and plan their family size through ensuring availability of a wide range of contraceptive methods to the population in the reproductive age group.
The ZNFPC is targeting to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate among adults in the country from 59 percent to 68 percent by the year 2020.
For your questions and answers please write or contact Marketing and Public relations Manager, on (04)668459, 662789, 0773 928 373 or email [email protected] or [email protected]
