Are other injectables safe to use?
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use currently recommends that women at risk of HIV infection may use all injectables with no restrictions.2 Another progestin-only injectable contraceptive is norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN), known commercially as Noristerat or Norigest. It differs from DMPA in that it contains a different progestin and is administered every two months at a dose of 200 milligrams. Two combined pro-gestin-estrogen injectable contraceptives, known commercially as Cyclofem and Mesigyna, are administered monthly. Determining whether the differences in dose or types of hormones in these injectables might result in different effects on HIV acquisition would require further research. (Of note, a recently completed secondary analysis of data collected as part of another study found that use of COCs, NET-EN, or DMPA by South African women from the general population was not associated with increased risk of HIV infection.3)
