
Posts misrepresent study findings on contraceptive pills
"Is this true? A new study has found a small but measurable increase in the risk of brain tumours linked to long-term use of the contraceptive pill desogestrel," says the Facebook post, referring to a hormone used in birth control pills (archived link).
The post goes on to state that women who took pills containing this hormone for more than five years faced a higher risk of intracranial meningioma -- a type of brain tumour -- than those who used it for a shorter period.
It notes that the heightened risk disappeared for women who stopped taking the pill after a year, and the study does not prove direct causation but supports cautious long-term use.
"In contrast, another synthetic hormone, levonorgestrel, showed no increased tumor risk, even after extended use," it adds.
Image
Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post captured on July 14, 2025, with an orange X added by AFP
Similar claims circulated on Facebook, including one that featured another brand, Lady.
The posts triggered a flurry of comments from concerned users.
"This is so sad if true. I've been using this brand for ten years," one user said.
Another commented: "This is why it's better to use the calendar method."
The brands Trust and Lady do not contain desogestrel but another hormone called levonorgestrel, according to the drugs database MIMS ( ).
Keyword searches on Google found the misleading posts stem from a June 19 post on the Facebook page of Hashem Al-Ghaili, a content creator known for sharing science and technology-related stories (archived link).
The post does not mention any specific brand of pills but links to the study published in the British Medical Journal on June 11 (archived link).
The paper examined whether oral contraceptives containing desogestrel or levonorgestrel are linked to an increased risk of intracranial meningioma, based on data from women living in France who underwent surgery for the condition between 2020 and 2023.
"The results showed a small increased risk of intracranial meningioma in women who had used desogestrel 75 µg for more than five continuous years, but no risk in users of levonorgestrel (alone or combined with oestrogen)," reads part of its summary.
Image
Screenshot of the study published by BMJ taken on July 10, 2025, with a blue highlight added by AFP
Given these findings, women over 45 or those who have been using desogestrel for more than five years should consult their doctor to assess whether continuing use remains the best option, Noémie Roland, assistant professor of epidemiology at University of Southern Denmark and one of the authors, told AFP on July 7 (archived link).
"The results of our study concerning levonorgestrel, alone or combined with oestrogen, and regardless of duration of use are reassuring," she added.
"Our findings show no elevated meningioma risk with the combined oestrogen-levonorgestrel contraceptive pill -- the most commonly prescribed oral contraceptive globally."
Marianne Austria, a gynaecologist from St. Clare's Medical Center in the Philippine capital Manila, separately told AFP on July 8 that hormonal birth control methods carry potential side effects such as headaches, nausea or, in very rare cases, blood clots (archived link).
But these can be managed under medical supervision, including by temporarily stopping the pill or switching to alternative contraceptive options.
"Taking pills remains to be one of the safest contraceptive measures that a woman can practice," Austria added.
AFP has previously reported on misinformation around reproductive health here.

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AFP
4 days ago
- AFP
Posts misrepresent study findings on contraceptive pills
The photo of a half-used pack of Trust brand contraceptive pills was misleadingly shared on Facebook on June 30, 2025. "Is this true? A new study has found a small but measurable increase in the risk of brain tumours linked to long-term use of the contraceptive pill desogestrel," says the Facebook post, referring to a hormone used in birth control pills (archived link). The post goes on to state that women who took pills containing this hormone for more than five years faced a higher risk of intracranial meningioma -- a type of brain tumour -- than those who used it for a shorter period. It notes that the heightened risk disappeared for women who stopped taking the pill after a year, and the study does not prove direct causation but supports cautious long-term use. "In contrast, another synthetic hormone, levonorgestrel, showed no increased tumor risk, even after extended use," it adds. Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post captured on July 14, 2025, with an orange X added by AFP Similar claims circulated on Facebook, including one that featured another brand, Lady. The posts triggered a flurry of comments from concerned users. "This is so sad if true. I've been using this brand for ten years," one user said. Another commented: "This is why it's better to use the calendar method." The brands Trust and Lady do not contain desogestrel but another hormone called levonorgestrel, according to the drugs database MIMS ( ). Keyword searches on Google found the misleading posts stem from a June 19 post on the Facebook page of Hashem Al-Ghaili, a content creator known for sharing science and technology-related stories (archived link). The post does not mention any specific brand of pills but links to the study published in the British Medical Journal on June 11 (archived link). The paper examined whether oral contraceptives containing desogestrel or levonorgestrel are linked to an increased risk of intracranial meningioma, based on data from women living in France who underwent surgery for the condition between 2020 and 2023. "The results showed a small increased risk of intracranial meningioma in women who had used desogestrel 75 µg for more than five continuous years, but no risk in users of levonorgestrel (alone or combined with oestrogen)," reads part of its summary. Image Screenshot of the study published by BMJ taken on July 10, 2025, with a blue highlight added by AFP Given these findings, women over 45 or those who have been using desogestrel for more than five years should consult their doctor to assess whether continuing use remains the best option, Noémie Roland, assistant professor of epidemiology at University of Southern Denmark and one of the authors, told AFP on July 7 (archived link). "The results of our study concerning levonorgestrel, alone or combined with oestrogen, and regardless of duration of use are reassuring," she added. "Our findings show no elevated meningioma risk with the combined oestrogen-levonorgestrel contraceptive pill -- the most commonly prescribed oral contraceptive globally." Marianne Austria, a gynaecologist from St. Clare's Medical Center in the Philippine capital Manila, separately told AFP on July 8 that hormonal birth control methods carry potential side effects such as headaches, nausea or, in very rare cases, blood clots (archived link). But these can be managed under medical supervision, including by temporarily stopping the pill or switching to alternative contraceptive options. "Taking pills remains to be one of the safest contraceptive measures that a woman can practice," Austria added. AFP has previously reported on misinformation around reproductive health here.

LeMonde
10-07-2025
- LeMonde
Eight children killed in strike outside Gaza clinic, among 66 dead in Israeli attacks
Gaza's civil defense agency said eight children – killed as they queued for nutritional supplements outside a health clinic – were among 66 people who died in Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory Thursday. The agency said the children were among 17 victims in a strike on Deir el-Balah. According to the UN children's agency, the dead included a one-year-old boy whose mother said he had spoken his first words just hours earlier. The mother was critically injured, UNICEF added. "No parent should have to face such tragedy," UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in a statement. "The killing of families trying to access life-saving aid is unconscionable," she added. US-based charity Project Hope, which runs the facility, said the victims were waiting for the clinic to open to receive treatment for malnutrition, infections and illness. The charity gave a toll of 15 dead, including 10 children and two women. Its president and chief executive Rabih Torbay called the strike "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law." Yousef Al-Aydi, 30, was among dozens of people – most of them women and children – in the queue. "Suddenly, we heard the sound of a drone approaching, and then the explosion happened," he told AFP by phone. "The ground shook beneath our feet, and everything around us turned into blood and deafening screams." Israel has expanded its military operations in Gaza, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the population of more than two million people. The Israeli military told AFP that it targetted a Hamas militant in Deir el-Balah who had infiltrated Israel during the group's October 7, 2023 attack. It said it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible", adding the incident was under review. 'Killed instantly' Mohammed Abu Ouda, 35, was also in the queue at Project Hope. "What was our fault? What was the fault of the children?" he asked. "I saw a mother hugging her child on the ground, both motionless – they were killed instantly." AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details due to media restrictions in Gaza. Four people were killed and several injured in a separate pre-dawn air strike on a home in Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, civil defense agency official Mohammed al-Mughair added. AFP footage from Al-Bureij showed a family including three young children sitting among rubble outside their tattered tent after an air strike hit a house next door. Elsewhere, three people, including a woman, were killed by Israeli gunfire on civilians near an aid center in the southern city of Rafah, the civil defense agency said. More than 600 people have been killed around aid distributions and convoys in Gaza since late May, when Israel began allowing a trickle of supplies, the United Nations said in early July. The European Union on Thursday said it had struck a deal with Israel to open more crossings for aid, as well as to repair infrastructure and protect aid workers. "We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed," EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 57,762 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations deems the figures reliable.


Local France
07-07-2025
- Local France
French court dismisses government Covid response probe
The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) closed the probe five years after it began in July 2020 over complaints that the government mismanaged its reaction to the virus's spread, including a lack of protective gear and unclear guidance over mask wearing. Then prime minister Philippe, ex-health minister Agnès Buzyn and her successor Olivier Véran were named as assisted witnesses - a status in the French legal system that falls between that of a witness and a formal suspect. "The investigating committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic has decided to dismiss the case," prosecutor general Remy Heitz said on Monday, without offering details. Advertisement The public prosecutor in May requested the case be dismissed -- a move that effectively ruled out a trial. The CJR is the only court authorised to prosecute and try former and current government members for alleged crimes and offences committed in exercising their official duties. Its investigation found the government had taken several measures to combat the pandemic, Heitz said in May. The prosecutor's request - seen by AFP - argued that while the measures taken to combat the spread of Covid-19 were insufficient, neither Philippe nor Véran deliberately refused to respond to the disaster. "Each, at their own level, fought the epidemic from the moment it emerged in France," the request said. Buzyn had been sharply criticised for leaving her post at the start of the health crisis to run for mayor of Paris. But she actually left on February 16th, 2020 - a few days before an official disaster was declared in France with the first death of a Covid-19 patient recorded on February 25th, the prosecutor general's office added. Buzyn had also been under investigation for endangering the lives of others, but France's Court of Cassation dropped that charge in January 2023. Philippe, a popular premier from 2017 to July 2020, is now mayor of the northern city of Le Havre and leads a right-centre party allied with, but not part of, Macron's centrist faction. Advertisement He is the only leading contender to firmly have declared his intention to stand in the 2027 presidential election. READ ALSO : ANALYSIS: Who's who in France's 2027 presidential election race✎ According to France's public health agency, around 168,000 people died from Covid-19 between February 2020 and September 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the global health emergency over.