•
IS - Depro-Provera, a con
tr ceptive prohibited in the U.S.,
idely used on 8.mibian .
omen' p of the brutality
of apartheid,' ch es a le er
of women' organization there
th t i pu . to ban the dru
in th t South African-occupied
country.
shilon 0 El 0, an organi-
zer of the amibian Women'
Voi e; id her group launched
rvey 1 month to fully
a the u of Depro-Provera,
an injected drug that has been
found to cau cancer in eral
animal udi . The group im
to re ch 10,000 omen through
the rvey.
El 0, in the U.. com
pletin an advanced degree in
health education, . d the survey
i p rt of n outreach and
education campaign that arted
I t pring after members of th
group learn d th t the South
African-created Dep tment of
ti nal Health routinely u
Depro-Provera in gynecological
and po nat program in ho -
pital and health clinics aero
the country.
amibia,
million people hich borders
South Africa, ha been ille8ally
occupied by the' hite minority-
regime for 20 year. E
m int in that Depro-Provera,
ministered exten ively on the
frtcan majority, i not it
in th segreg ted health facilit
ies rvicing white omen.
e're trying to compile
information from the women
them Ive to e wh t change
h e occurred in their live
from the u of Depro-Provers,"
commented E durina are-
orne
ge
cent interview.
e initial interview
ith amibian omen las
spring revealed that some wo
men ha b n receiving Depro
Prover for long s ten year .
She dded that injeCtion are
given to women young s 11
ortly after they reach puberty.
Elago said th women inter
viewed reported a range of
symptons including exce . e
weight gains hair 10 , high
blood pre ure and, in some in-
tances the milk dried up of
women who recently gave birth.
U.S. consumer and health
dvoc te 1 unched vigorou
prote that bloc ed the Federal
Drug drnini ration from
approvin Depro-Provera for sale
here in 1983. It is highly
eff ctiv contraceptive which
tays in the system from three
month to a year. Clinical test
hav linked the drug to exce ive
bleeding, infertility and cardio
va cular di . Other evidence
ugge t irreversable effect in
cluding hormonal change and
dam e to the unborn fetu
and nursing infant
While critic and dvocate
both confes that udie on the
drug are till inconclu . e, clini
cal dog and monkey developed
tumors and breast cancer.
After a 100year battI here to
cure FDA approval Upjohn
Company, the manufacturer of
Depro-Provera, withdrew its
pplication last summer.
Je yl Br dford, a spokes
per n for Upjohn, maintained
the company's claim. ' Our
position is that Depro-Provera
is a fe and effective con
traceptive ent th I can be
Lucia,
land
Source
9
o
- .
ca
•
paper. The total amount of
arm involved eighed nearly
60 ton. It is illegal to send
arms to South Africa under
the United ations ann em- .
bargo and under the Anti
Apartheid Act passed 1a year
by congre .
However, the South African
Weekly Mail newspaper re
ported la . July that then
CIA director, illiam C v,
made cret vi't to South
Africa to arrange for ship
ment to ITA. Publi ed
reports 10 say that a por
tion of th profits from the
US Government's e of arm
to Iran ere to be channelled
to the Angolan anti overn
ment group.
esman at the State
Department id that t U.S.
i not ipping arms to South
Africa and h not done
since the arms embargo in
1962.
ocide
u d by any woman regardl
of r ce and x.'
Responding to the allegation
that the drug is widely used
in developing countries, Th Up
john spokesperson stated that
Depro-Prover is distributed in
90 countrie including the
United Kingdom, Germany, ew
Zeland and Belgium.
"It doe inhibit birth, but it
i not intended for u a a
genocidal or sterilization agent,"
Bradford said. She added that
, the company urges that dmini-
tration of Depro-Provera be
accompanied by patient consent
and the release of a form pro
viding information on the drug.
According to the amibian
Women's Voice, veral women
interviewed did not know that
Depro-Provera was being d
ministered to them.
They're just given the drug,"
said Elago. For me it' a
one-time injection. For other
it is repeated. In some cases,
women have been given in
jections shortly after delivery
in the maternity ward.'
Elago insist that the
government u of Depro-
Provera is an extention of the
apartheid occupation. "It' a
silent war, a political tool of
the racist South African
government to kill off and curb
the growth of the African
population. Simply, it's
genocide. "
In their battle to ban Depro
Provers, Elago said her organi
zation is seeking support of
international women's organiza
tions and medical association .
3
om
-Legislation offers aid to African nations
ASH GTO - U.S. Rep.
William H. Gray, III (D-Pa)
introduced the Gray /Dixon
Southern Africa Initiative which
would provide a $100 million
urgent pplemental appropria
tion to members of the Southern
Africa Development Coordina
tion Conference (SADCC).
The initiative allK> includes
a five-year, $700 million aid
p age to SADCC, beginning in
1988. Recipient would be
Zimbabwe, Zambia, ozarnbi
que, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho,
Swaziland and Botswana.
Gray, id:
'Currently . of the mem
bers of SADCC are landlocked,
with South Africa controlling
the region' most ernc' ot port
and transport route
"The bills we introduce today
would 'help the SADCC
nations to overcome the ex
pected economic retaliation of
the South African government
it continues to resi inter
n tional pre re to dismantle
apartheid.
'In both bills, no le than
fifty per cent of th total
fundi would be spent to build
and upgrade ro d , bridge , port
and rail facilities in the mem
ber countrie
'The remainder of the funds
would be u d to reduce the
nations' dependence on South
Africa in eight other key areas:
energy, agricultural re arch,
animal di a control, fisherie I
forestrie , communication man-
power development and food t
curily.
African-American
population grows
ASH] TO The
nation' African-American popu
lation grew by 2.6 million or
10 percent from 1980 to 1986,
according to the Commerce
Department' Censu Bureau.
The bureau' late . annual
population estimate by a e,
x and race indicate that
totaled 29.4 million in 1986
comp red with 26.8 million in
the 1980 census. Only 15 per
cent of the growth was from
immigration.
The African-Amen pu-
lation ha been gro in ter
than the total populati nand
its proportion ro from
p rcent in 19 0 to 12.2 in 19 6.
The report sho the white
population gre from 195.1
million to 204.7 million durin
the p riod an incre of 5
percent. ost of the gain came
from natural increase.
Here are 0 ther findings from
the report for 1986:
-The Bl c population'
median e wa 26.9 ye r
compared with 32.7 years f r
whites. The ix-year differen e
has remained fairly const nt
since the 1970s.
-Bla femal s outnumbered
Blac males 15. million to
14.0 million. al utnurnber-
ed female only th r ugh e
18, reflectin mor rn irth .
-White females t tal d 104.
milli n compared ith 100.1
million white male .