World Contraception Day: What Bayer does to get the pill to the woman

If you believe the pharmaceutical company Bayer, it is very easy with the contraceptive pill. "You take the pill just like other pills", and continue: "Just throw one in your mouth and swallow it." This is how Bayer writes on the website "your-life.com".

The fact that the pharmaceutical company from Leverkusen wants to make things seem so simple, as if it were a dietary supplement, could have a reason: Bayer is the world's largest supplier of hormonal contraceptives.

Part of the campaign "Your Life" is also the world contraception, as the corporation writes. It's time again this Thursday. Just recently, the Federal Center for Health Education used the anniversary as an opportunity to present new study results on the topic of contraception.

The authorities did not mention what the World Contraception Day was all about. He was invented only 12 years ago. Many partners list Bayer on its campaign website, such as the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, the US government organization USAID or medical associations.

No evidence of depression as a possible side effect

The website is strikingly one-sided when it comes to comparing birth control methods. Although information about hormonal remedies can trigger mood swings, it does not suggest depression as potential side effects. Suicide risks have been mentioned in the leaflet in the EU for a few months now, not even a word.

Instead, the disadvantages of birth control pills in a comparison table are rated as low. The pill says that you have to take it every day - in condoms that the use leads to an interruption of sex.

IMS PharmaScope / THE MIRROR

Bayer states that the website should motivate young people to deal with the subject of contraception. It was not intended to "perform a full benefit risk assessment." The website should motivate women to talk to their doctor about contraception.

Bayer is aggressively promoting its multi-lingual campaign page on social media, with some YouTube videos being viewed a hundred thousand times over.

But how is it that prestigious organizations can be harnessed to the cart of a pharmaceutical company? The World Health Organization WHO even linked directly to the pharmaceutical manufacturer's campaign on a World Contraception Day.

"A very clever means"

On request, a WHO spokesperson described the website as "a mistake" with the link to Bayer, but the link has since been removed. "World Prevention Day is not a WHO day," he explains. Nevertheless, the day would be used as an opportunity to publicize important health information. The speaker left the question unanswered as to how the error could occur.

The behavior of the WHO Christiane Fischer calls a "disaster". She is managing director of the "I pay my own" medical initiative, which critically opposes the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. Fischer has also been a member of the German Ethics Council since 2012. "The company is trying to push their products with it," she says. She regards the theme day as "pure advertising".

For prescription drugs like the pill, advertising is banned in public - but not campaigns such as the World Contraception Day, at which Bayer does not highlight any products. "It's a very clever way, because you first think it's independent," says Fischer.

What is in the leaflet as a side effect, should also be stated on the website, it also calls. "I think you should generally draw more attention to side effects with hormonal contraceptives."

Enlightened decisions?

The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, said it was part of a coalition of 17 organizations regarding Bayer's platform. "We do this to ensure that young people have information for informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health," said a spokesperson.

For further questions on the Bayer platform to doctors referenced, the site itself serve only for "general information". The UN organization would examine cooperation with companies in advance to determine whether they can commit to human rights and demonstrate socially responsible behavior.

The health scientist Ingrid Mühlhauser, who is also chairwoman of the Women's Health Working Group, sees this critically. The UNFPA does not show any awareness of "the credibility of health information by pharmaceutical companies". Women should receive state-of-the-art information. On Bayer's website, however, go "completely under" how much uncertainty behind the statements made there.

Also, some other of the organizations that Bayer calls supporters defend their participation in the campaign. The partners of the World Prevention Day have "different strategies" to ensure the effectiveness of the campaign, says Beth Schlachter, director of the "Family Planning 2020" initiative, which is funded by the Gates Foundation and the Federal Government. Your organization did not receive any funds for participation.

Distorted information

The umbrella organization "International Planned Parenthood Federation" states that Bayer is one of many partners with whom the association works to improve prevention on contraception issues. The association also includes the organization Pro Familia, which, according to its spokeswoman, uses the World Contraception Day "to draw attention to certain topics relating to contraception". However, this was "in no way as an advertisement for a Bayer campaign" to look at. And: The Pro Familia Federal Association operate "no commercial cooperation with Bayer".

The Federal Center for Health Education, it is also important to use occasions, "to which the issue of public awareness receives public attention," said the authority on demand. It wants to give the population "access to quality-assured, neutral knowledge".

But this is precisely what is not the case on Bayer's campaign page on World Prevention Day, says health scientist Mühlhauser. "You know, yes, that's also been investigated many times: The websites of the manufacturers give distorted information."

The Leverkusen-based company sees this very differently and presents the campaign platform as a kind of service to humanity. Bayer is committed to "using its expertise and years of experience in women's health to improve education on reproductive wellbeing ".