Shots in the Dark
Millions of women throughout the Third World are being injected with a drug that has been banned in the USA because of fears that it could cause cancer. The drug is Depo Provera, an injectable contraceptive which prevents pregnancy for up to six months. Depo Provera is supported by major family planning organisations but vehemently opposed by ' ban the jab' activists who say that until it's proved safe its use in the developing world is totally immaral. This film sets out to investigate this alleged scandal among the crowds of women who come for the injection in North East Thailand and up in the remote hill tribes of the Golden Triangle, where the men of the village are being taught how to inject their womenfolk. How do the doctors and families there balance the risks and benefits of a drug whose safety has been questioned-and is there indeed one set of rules for the West and another for the Third World? Narrator PAUL VAUGHAN
Film editor RICHARD TREVOR
Horizon editor GRAHAM MASSEY
Written and produced by EDWARD GOLDWYN