New Delhi: Advertising and broadcast firms may be cheering the ad blitz by makers of emergency contraceptive pills, popularly known as morning after pills, but India’s drugs regulator is beginning to take a dim view of this because of potential overuse and misuse.
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The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is considering converting these over-the-counter (OTC) emergency contraceptives (ECs) into prescription drugs.
If this happens, these drugs can no longer be advertised.
Wrong message? Ads for Cipla’s I-pill and Mankind Pharma’s Unwanted-72 contraceptives. The advertising council is finding it difficult to take a call on ads for morning after pills as the government endorses family planning on the one hand, but doesn’t like the way such advertisements are being received by the audience.
The proposal is to be discussed at the next meeting of the Drug Technical Advisory Board, which will also consult with the department of family welfare. The date for the meeting has not yet been fixed.
DCGI has already written to the two companies, Cipla Ltd and Mankind Pharma Ltd, that have been advertising their morning after pills I-pill and Unwanted-72, respectively, and is awaiting their response.
“There are ethical concerns over these ads and we have received a number of complaints. In India, there is not enough awareness on emergency contraceptives, so the situation needs to be tackled carefully. In most countries emergency contraceptives are sold OTC but this may not be feasible for us,” said drug controller general Surinder Singh.
Some gynaecologists say the advertisements present morning after pills not as emergency contraceptives but as a way to have unprotected sex without worrying about getting pregnant. “Abortion say accha hai pregnancy ko rokna (it is better to stop a pregnancy than have an abortion),” says the I-pill ad, while the Unwanted-72 advertisement ends with the line “ab ham hain tension free” (we are now tension free).
Listen to an interview with Dr. Ranjana Sharma of Fortis La Femme about whether emergency contraceptives should be prescription based
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Following complaints, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), an industry body that deals with complaints against ads, has decided to study these ads.
The council is yet to take a call on the ads because, as one of its officers put it, the issue isn’t an easy one. The government endorses family planning on the one hand, but doesn’t like the way ads for morning after pills are being received by the audience, said Alan Collaco, secretary general, ASCI. “The issue is more legal than moral.”