The morning-after pill craze has hit Gweru urban district with the Midlands province capital pharmacies said to be selling approximately 600 of these monthly.iHarare has established.
According to a snap survey by iHarare in Gweru recently ,the emergency contraception commonly known as the morning after pill that prevents one from falling pregnant is selling like hot cakes with pharmacy attendants interviewed revealing that this was the best selling drug in the district.
“This is the most sought after tablet that I have ever seen.You can sell between 400 and 600 of these tablets within a month,”revealed a pharmacy attendant in Gweru ‘s CBD.
A pharmacist in Gweru s Mkoba 6 who spoke on condition of anonymity said ,chances were high that about 8000 people in the district could be having unprotected s-ex if the demand for the morning after pill was anything to go by.
“This drug is really on demand but I am worried that these consumers main worry is about falling pregnant while HIV and s-exually transmitted infections were the least of their worries,” he said.
According to the pharmacist,the consumers of the tablet are mainly young people in Tertiary Institutions.The city of Gweru has three main tertiary institutions namely Midlands State University,Mkoba Teachers College and Gweru Polytechnic, with M.S.U having a population of 25 000 and this could be where most of the users of the pill are drawn.
Morning-after pill is a form of contraceptive that can be used within 72 hours of unprotected s-ex to prevent pregnancy.
The emergency contraceptive can be taken within 72 hours after unprotected s-ex and they temporarily stop the release of an egg from the ovary,prevent fertilisation and also prevent a fertilised egg from attaching itself to the uterus.
Another pharmacist added that the demand for the pill was high when tertiary institutions were in session.
The pill costs between $4 and $6 while home pregnancy kits are pegged at $1. “We usually sell more of these when tertiary students are in town,” said another pharmacist.
The demand for the morning after pill shows that Government’s efforts in the fight against the spread of HIV will not yield the desired results of zero new infections.
Source-iHarare
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