Injectable contraceptive supply restored at Corporate Area public clinics

Women seeking injectable contraceptives at public health centres in the Corporate Area are once again being served, following a recent shortage that had forced some to either pay for the method privately or switch to oral pills.

When the Jamaica Observer visited the Maxfield Park Health Centre and the Slipe Pen Road Comprehensive Health Centre in Kingston on Friday, staff confirmed that the injection was being administered as normal.

One patient at the Slipe Pen Road facility, who asked not to be identified, said she had been turned away on a previous visit but received her shot on Friday. "I came before and they didn't have it, and I came back today and got it. It's the first time this is happening to me. Normally, I come and get the injection, and it's fine. They asked me if I wanted to buy it or take the pill. I decided to take the pill but it made me feel bad, so I stopped taking it," she told the Observer.

She added that women who chose to buy the method during the shortage were issued prescriptions to be filled at private pharmacies at a cost of $4,100.

The same woman, a 10-month-old baby's mother, expressed frustration with the wider state of maternal support. "They said it wasn't in the country at the moment. They said they didn't have any in stock, but I feel like they are trying to cut it out. Christopher Tufton say the birth rate is low, so he wants people to have more children, but when people have children they are not getting good care in hospitals or proper food. I just had a baby; my baby is 10 months old. The food they give you as a new mother doesn't make sense. It can't fill you, and yet they want you to have more children," she said.

Another mother at the same clinic recounted a similar experience the previous month, when she had no choice but to take the pill. "Last month when I came, they were saying it hadn't arrived as yet, so we had to wait for a period of time. There were options to purchase it or take the pill. Some persons purchased it; I took the pill because I didn't have any money to buy it," she said, noting that the tablets had increased her appetite.

A public health nurse at the facility attributed the gap to ordering delays in March. "For the past two weeks, patients have been receiving their method," the nurse said.

At the Maxfield Park Health Centre, Teresa McKenzie, who attended the clinic with her sister, said money is the main reason many women rely on the public service for contraception. "It's mostly financial reasons for me because right now I am not working, and being at home, it's really hard on my partner to provide everything. Having children, when they are very young it's difficult to find food and, eventually, to afford school. Taking care of children is more manageable this way," she said.

Dr Julia Rowe-Porter, director of the Family Health Unit (FHU) in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, said the National Health Fund (NHF) has not acknowledged any stock-out at its central warehouse, although changes in how orders are managed have left individual clinics short.

"I liaised with the regions last week. While the National Health Fund has indicated that there are no stock-outs at central storage, there have been order management changes that cause stock-outs at the facility level. The FHU is in dialogue with the NHF and regional health authorities to rectify this matter," she said.