Talila Nesher writes:
A government official has for the first time
acknowledged the practice of injecting women of Ethiopian origin with the
long-acting contraceptive Depo-Provera. Health Ministry Director General Prof.
Ron Gamzu has instructed the four health maintenance organizations to stop the
practice as a matter of course. The ministry and other state agencies had
previously denied knowledge or responsibility for the practice, which was first
reported five years ago.
Gamzu’s letter instructs all gynecologists in the
HMOs "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian
origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the
ramifications of the treatment.” He also instructed physicians to avail
themselves of translators if need be.
Gamzu’s letter came in response to a letter from
Sharona Eliahu-Chai of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, representing
several women’s rights and Ethiopian immigrants’ groups. The letter demanded the
injections cease immediately and that an investigation be launched into the
practice.
About six weeks ago, on an Educational Television
program journalist Gal Gabbay revealed the results of interviews with 35
Ethiopian immigrants. The women’s testimony could help explain the almost
50-percent decline over the past 10 years in the birth rate of Israel’s
Ethiopian community.
According to the program, while the women were still in transit camps in Ethiopia they were sometimes intimidated or threatened into taking the injection. “They told us they are inoculations,” said one of the women interviewed. “They told us people who frequently give birth suffer. We took it every three months. We said we didn’t want to.”
According to the program, while the women were still in transit camps in Ethiopia they were sometimes intimidated or threatened into taking the injection. “They told us they are inoculations,” said one of the women interviewed. “They told us people who frequently give birth suffer. We took it every three months. We said we didn’t want to.”
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