日本妇女很少服用避孕药.docVIP

14 日本妇女很少服用避孕药 Few Women Use the Birth Control 1)Pill in Japan Amy Bickers Tokyo 20 Jun 2001 09:57 UTC Two years after Japans government 2)legalized the sale of the birth control pill, few women are taking it. Health experts say that concerns over possible side effects and other 3)obstacles have 4)dampened the pills popularity. In Japan, the birth control pill was approved for use two years ago 5)amid great publicity. Japan 6)lagged decades behind other industrialized nations and only acted after its approval of the new 7)anti-impotence drug Viagra sparked angry complaints that womens sexual and health needs were being 8)sidelined. But the pill, which prevents 9)pregnancy through the use of 10)synthetic 11)hormones, is far from a hit in Japan. A recent poll conducted by the 12)Mainichi newspaper indicates that less than two-percent of adult Japanese women use it compared to 15 percent in the United States. So why arent women here using it? Masako Byrd is a 34-year old 13)Tokyo housewife. Like the majority of Japanese women, she says she is fearful of how the pill would affect her health and its potential side effects. Kunio Kitamura is a 14)gynecologist at Japans Family Planning Association in Tokyo. He says that some physicians have a deep-rooted bias against this and other drugs which change the bodys hormone balance. He says some specialists still have misconceptions about the pill, and they are reluctant to 15)prescribe it. The 16)contraceptive pill was introduced in many countries nearly 40 years ago after being 17)deemed generally safe. In fact, medical studies show that while some versions of the pill may have some 18)unwanted side effects, such as mood swings and weight gain, it may also help prevent certain types of cancers. In an effort to improve public information on the birth control pill, a 19)consortium of Japans 11 approved manufacturers of the drug opened a telephone hotline last year. But very few calls came in and the hotline was closed down wi