Depo-Provera: WHO set to review guidance on use by women at high HIV risk

A World Health Organization guideline development group will convene next week (29-31 July) to review recommendations for the use of contraceptive methods by women at high risk of contracting HIV.

The group will review the status of the three monthly injectable contraceptive Depo-Provera, using new evidence from a randomised clinical trial published in the Lancet last month.1 The Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) trial, carried out in South Africa, Kenya, Swaziland, and Zambia, was designed to settle ongoing uncertainty and debate over whether Depo-Provera increased the possibility of HIV transmission in women who used it.

The study reported no significant …