Solon seeks probe of ‘cancer-causing’ contraceptives

The national and legislative debate on the reproductive health (RH) bill promises to heat up as more lawmakers make their voices heard on the controversial issue. A veteran congressman on Tuesday asked the Lower House to verify reports that certain contraceptives are carcinogenic and hazardous to women’s health, while on the other side of the RH divide, a party-list representative asked President Benigno Aquino III to certify as urgent all the six RH bills pending in Congress. In filing House Resolution 491, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez also wanted the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue strong warnings on the possible health hazard. Golez said a document from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency under the World Health Organization that issues Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, concluded that certain contraceptives are carcinogenic to humans. “The IARC Monographs state that combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives and combined estrogen-progestogen menopausal therapy are carcinogenic to humans after a thorough review of the published scientific evidence," Golez quoted the report in his resolution. “It appears from the studies conducted that the use of hormonal contraceptives bears increased risk for breast and cervical cancers. Other reports indicate slight increase in the risk of breast cancer associated with birth control pills and also with the injectable contraceptive depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate," he said. A US Cancer Institute study meanwhile showed the use of hormonal or oral contraceptives will increase the risk of breast, cervical and liver cancers, he added. Also, a study by the Cancer Research United Kingdom indicated that the use of oral contraceptives can increase the risk of breast and cervical cancers. Golez also said a document from the New South Wales Breast Cancer Institute, which made a synthesis of 54 studies linking oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use to breast cancer, revealed that women who are currently using combined OCP or have used them in the past ten years are at a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer. He also cited a document from the Department of Continuing Education of the Harvard Medical School, which showed that there is two times increased risk of cervical cancer due to oral contraceptive. The lawmaker said a paper made by Dr. Angelita-Miguel Aguirre, chairperson of the committee on ethics of the Makati Medical Society and Fellow and Diplomate of the Philippine College of Physicians, listed that among the adverse effect of the pill to women are breast, cervical and liver cancers, premature hypertension and coronary artery disease resulting to heart attacks and strokes, thromboembolism or pulmonary embolism. Akbayan seeks all RH bills certified as urgent On the other hand, Akbayan partylist Rep. Kaka Bag-ao wrote a letter to President Aquino “to certify as urgent all the bills pertaining to the establishment of a national policy on reproductive health." Bag-ao said the raging debate on the RH bill reflects the “failure" of the past administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to help resolve long-standing conflicts and problems such as the “disempowerment of couples" due to lack of information on family planning options; situations discriminatory against women that carry the brunt of unwanted pregnancy; and public policy “gaps" in reproductive health that make the issue susceptible to “divisive sectarianism." Bag-ao also said that the biggest stumbling block to a sober discussion of the RH bill is the refusal of some quarters to consider the bill as “a pro-life measure," adding that it is not an abortion bill and nothing in the proposed legislation legalizes abortion. The proposed RH legislation simply expands access to healthcare and corrects the exclusion of certain communities, poor women in particular, in the delivery of health services, she said. Bag-ao praised Aquino for his “consistent support for responsible parenthood" and his efforts to reach out to those who are staunchly against the bill. The lawmaker said an environment of dialogue is needed to allow the government, policy-makers, advocates and the public as well to make an informed decision on the issue. “But the debate of a fundamentally public policy issue should eventually and promptly be brought back to where it belongs—within the walls of our policy-making bodies…all bills need to be in the congressional agenda as soon as possible so that we can all act with haste on an urgent matter," Bag-ao said.—JV, GMANews.TV