100000 QUINACRINE STERILIZATIONS

100 000 quinacrine nonsurgical female sterilizations have been complet ed over the past decade involving transcervical insertion of quinacrin e (252 mg) as pellets by one, two or three monthly insertions. No deat hs have been reported and serious complications are far fewer than for surgical sterilization. Side-effects are mild and transient. Efficacy has improved from 3 pregnancy failures per 100 women at one year to a pproximately 1 by improved insertion technique and use of adjuvants. L ong-term follow-up of early cases in Chile shows no increased risk of cancer for this method. The main advantage of quinacrine sterilization is its ability to raise contraceptive prevalence and thereby reduce m aternal mortality and morbidity, especially in rural and urban slum ar eas of developing countries. It should be made available as an option to well informed women everywhere as an economical and safe permanent family planning method.