Russian Federation: Mifepristone EC pills less accessible

ByCristina Puig

March 2025. Emergency contraceptive (EC) pills with a low dose of mifepristone (10 to 25 mg), have been available in a few countries for many years, including Armenia, Russia, China, Moldova, Ukraine and Vietnam.

In 2023, however, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation approved a list of drugs and active ingredients that are to be “subject to quantity control”. Mifepristone was included in this list, which did not specify dosages nor indications. This measure, which came into effect in September 2024, makes the use of mifepristone (at a low dose for emergency contraception, and at a higher dose for medical abortion) far more restricted and its prescription more bureaucratically burdened. On the other hand, the Ministry of Health made LNG EC pills available without a prescription in early 2024 (read more here).  

Learn more:

  • “The Ministry of health issued an order limiting the circulation of drugs for medical termination of pregnancy and emergency contraception“, article published in October 2023, by the independent journal Meduza: available in English and Russian.

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