Injectable Contraceptives: Tools for Providers
December 2006 Issue No. 8	The INFO Project • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health • Center for Communication Programs • 111 Market Place, Suite 310 • Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA • 410-659-6300 • 410-659-6266 (fax) • www.infoforhealth.org • infoproject@jhuccp.org

Injectable Contraceptives: Tools for Providers Table 2. Helping Clients Make a Well-Informed Choice of Injectable Contraceptives Table 3. Helping Clients Be Informed Users of Injectable Contraceptives Checklist for Giving Intramuscular Contraceptive Injections Checklist for Screening Clients Who Want to Initiate DMPA (or NET-EN), part a Checklist for Screening Clients Who Want to Initiate DMPA (or NET-EN), part b Sources Subscription and Ordering Information Credits

More than twice as many women are using injectable contraceptives today as a decade ago, and the numbers keep growing. Women choose injectables because they are highly effective, long-acting, reversible, and private. At the same time many women do not choose injectables or stop using them because of side effects—particularly irregular bleeding, no monthly bleeding, and weight gain—or because they have trouble returning for injections (70, 135, 168). Family planning programs are meeting increasing demand while helping providers to maintain good quality of care. Attention to quality, and to counseling especially, can be the difference between successful and unsuccessful efforts to expand access to injectables (77, 78). Using the tools in this INFO Reports, providers can inform women about injectables and help them be satisfied users.

Table 1. Formulations and Injection Schedules of Injectable Contraceptives
Common Trade Names	Formulation	Injection Type and Schedule
Progestin-Only Injectables
Depo-Provera®, Megestron®, Contracep®, Depo-Prodasone®	Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) 150 mg	One intramuscular (IM) injection every 3 months
depo-subQ provera 104® (DMPA-SC)	DMPA 104 mg	One subcutaneous injection every 3 months
Noristerat®, Norigest®, Doryxas®	Norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) 200 mg	One IM injection every 2 months
Combined Injectables (progestin + estrogen)1
Cyclofem®, Ciclofeminina®, Lunelle®2	Medroxyprogesterone acetate 25 mg + Estradiol cypionate 5 mg (MPA/E2C)	One IM injection every month
Mesigyna®, Norigynon®	NET-EN 50 mg + Estradiol valerate 5 mg (NET-EN/E2V)	One IM injection every month
Deladroxate®, Perlutal®, Topasel®, Patectro®, Deproxone®, Nomagest®	Dihydroxyprogesterone (algestone) acetophenide 150 mg + Estradiol enanthate 10 mg	One IM injection every month
Anafertin®, Yectames®	Dihydroxyprogesterone (algestone) acetophenide 75 mg + Estradiol enanthate 5 mg	One IM injection every month
Chinese Injectable No. 1®	17 α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate 250 mg + Estradiol valerate 5 mg	One IM injection every month, except 2 injections in first month
Sources: International Planned Parenthood Federation 2005 (83), Lande 1995 (99), Liggeri 2006 (103), WHO 1990 (204), WHO 1993 (205) 1 Also called monthly injectables. 2 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lunelle, but it is currently not available in the United States.

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