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Hormonal contraceptives increase women's susceptibility to HIV
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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The use of hormonal contraceptives increases women's susceptibility to HIV. This is the conclusion reached by scientists led by Renee Heffron (University of Washington).
The study involved 3,790 married couples from seven African countries (Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa). At the start of the experiment, only one partner in the couple was infected with the immunodeficiency virus. The participants were monitored for a year and a half.
The study results showed that women who took contraceptive pills were twice as susceptible to HIV as those who did not take such pills (6.61 cases of HIV transmission per 100 person-years versus 3.78 cases).
In families where the woman was initially the carrier of the immunodeficiency virus, the risk of infection of a man when using hormonal contraception was 1.5 times higher (2.61 cases of HIV infection per 100 person-years versus 1.51 cases). When assessing the results, the authors excluded the effects of the use of barrier methods of contraception, including condoms.
Hormonal contraception is very popular among the African population - it is used by about 6% of women aged 15 to 49 years.
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