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A South Auckland family doctor is worried some women might unintentionally become pregnant because of a shortage of contraceptive injections.
Dr John Allen, of the Mangere Health Centre, said last night that it ran out of Depo-Provera a fortnight ago and had been unable to find a supply.
The company that supplies the medicine, Pfizer NZ, rejected a shipment and has been rationing stock.
Dr Allen said: "We're advising patients of the situation and the other options for not getting pregnant.
"There's always a risk some of those patients will get pregnant when they don't want to.
"For a lot of patients, Depo is a particularly suitable contraceptive - often people will forget to take pills.
"Abstinence is not very popular. We have been prescribing condoms. Usually they are on Depo because they can't take the pill because it's contra-indicated or they forget to take it, so it doesn't work," he said.
An estimated 24,800 women use Depo-Provera, New Zealand's sole injectable contraceptive funded through Pharmac. It is administered every 12 weeks.
Pfizer expects a new shipment tomorrow, which will be distributed from Monday. General manager of pharmaceuticals Brad Edwards said the shortage arose because a shipment fell short of quality standards.
