A Chinese contraceptive pill that was banned on the Ugandan marke by the National Drug Authority (NDA) is still being clandestinely circulated for consumption.
Manufactured by Zizhu Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd, the pill was banned in 2022 following NDA’s investigation.
According to George Ssendagire, a resident of Kampala and husband to the late Barbra Atwine, who collapsed and died from Naguru Police Headquarters last month while delivering food supplements, she had been using Chinese pill once a month for its convenience.
“After doing research, I found that my wife, who was healthy and not suffering from any disease, was on the Chinese pill, which she told me she took only once a month because it was more convenient than the others on the market,” said Ssendagire.
The drug is still sold on market, as per Ssendagire’s revelations, since the wife was using once a month in favor of the other options on market currently
According to the National Drug Authority, the pill was banned as it didn’t have any label and was neither authorized nor registered for sale in Uganda. The wordings on it are in Chinese and can only be identified by the ingredients on the pack: levonongestrol and quinestrol.
“It contains high doses of hormones above the recommended dosage, It causes prolonged bleeding, irregular menstrual periods, palpitations, blood clots, heart disease, infertility, and endometrial cancer,” the NDA circular reads.
According to the postmortem report done by the city mortuary and carried out by Dr.Tukei Okwadi, the deceased died of hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood) following a bilateral pulmonary embolism (blockage in air pathways in both lungs due to a blood clot).
NDA warned Ugandans to always seek professional help when using contraceptives and follow proper guidelines by purchasing authorized pills from a recognized outlet with a license to operate drug stores.
