Tokyo — a decade since their much-publicized introduction, low-dose birth control pills are still struggling to gain popularity in Japan due to strong fears about side effects.
September marked the 10th anniversary of their introduction in the country, but the number of users was estimated at just 3 percent of women between the ages of 16 to 49 — considered the prime childbearing years — as of 2008, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
This is far below the rates of 53% in Germany, 26% in Britain and 18% in the United States, although it has inched up from 1.8% in 2006.
A study by the ministry shows that 70% of Japanese women say they do not want to take birth control pills, with 54% of that group citing concerns about side effects.
A 28-year-old woman in Tokyo who only wanted her given name, Megumi, used, is one of an estimated 820,000 women in Japan who take the oral contraceptive.
The part-time office worker said she first went on the pill last fall after her boyfriend’s condom split during intercourse. She was forced to worry for weeks before finding out that she was not pregnant, and the incident spurred her to look for ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy, she said.
She went to a women’s clinic to get a prescription, currently the only way to obtain the pill in Japan.
“At first I was concerned about the side effects, but I have not experienced unpleasant symptoms. I now think that the condom incident served as a good incentive,” Megumi said.
Doctors lament the situation, saying people don’t understand how safe the low-dose pills are and blame it on a lack of education and access to information showing that the risk is not high. They point out the pill can even lower the risk of some diseases.
“Large-scale research studies have clearly indicated that low-dose pills actually cut the risk of ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer, and that the risks of breast cancer and blood clots (from taking the pill) are not high if taken properly,” said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Clinic of the Japan Family Planning Association.
Other doctors point out that many women who take the pill do not take it for the purpose of preventing pregnancy but for the “side-benefits.”
“Many people take it in order to ease menstrual pain and irregularities,” said Satoko Inoue, who runs a women’s clinic in the city of Yamagata.
“The pill isn’t getting to the ones who really need it,” said Yasuyo Kasai, an obstetrics and gynecology doctor at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center in Tokyo.
While the number of abortions has been declining in recent years, it was still more than 250,000 in fiscal 2007.
Kasai said her hospital accepts several women every year who arrive by ambulance to give birth. They do not visit hospitals for necessary checkups or care for their undesired pregnancies until the very last minute.
She said she has witnessed a number of births that were not celebrated even by close relatives.
“I wish people had easier access to the pill and the right information about it,” Kasai said.
Source: japantoday.com, 12 October 2009