"Expanding knowledge and access
to emergency contraception"
"Expanding knowledge and access to emergency contraception in Europe"
July 2025. In February 2025, an organization in Italy submitted a formal request to reclassify emergency contraceptive pills with ulipristal acetate (UPA). The request cited findings from a proof-of-concept study that explored the potential use of UPA for medical abortion. Since becoming available without prescription in 2015, UPA emergency contraception has played a significant role…
July 2025. In April, ECEC reported on new restrictions affecting the use of mifepristone in Russia, impacting both medical abortion and emergency contraception (EC). Now, the independent Russian media outlet Vyorstka has investigated the real-world availability of mifepristone-based EC pills. After contacting six major pharmacy chains and reviewing online retailers, they found that the two most…
June 2025. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has released a new statement from its International Medical Advisory Panel (IMAP) on recent advances in emergency contraception (EC). The statement reviews emerging data on several EC-related topics and offers key recommendations to improve access. These include: The full statement is available here in English, Spanish, French,…
May 2025. Last January the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF) published the findings of the Youth Contraceptive Awareness Study. The study looked into contraceptive awareness, usage, and associated barriers among youth aged 18–30 across 14 European Union countries and Canada and was conducted with support from Organon in September 2024. The…
May 2025. The use of emergency contraception (EC) among women in Mexico has increased, according to the 2023 National Survey on Demographic Dynamics (ENADID), published by the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, INEGI) last October. EC pills have been available in Mexico without a prescription for over two…
May 2025. Sales of emergency contraception (EC) pills are rising again in Norway after a few years of gradual decline, according to the latest drug consumption report from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Folkehelseinstituttet), published in June 2024. In 2023, approximately 129.000 packages of EC pills were sold nationwide. This marks a reversal of…
May 2025. The European Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ECEC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new open-access Emergency Contraceptive (EC) pills database, now live at https://www.ec-ec.org/emergency-contraception-pills-database. This global resource offers country-level data on the availability of levonorgestrel (LNG), ulipristal acetate (UPA), and mifepristone EC pills. Users can search by region, country, pill type,…
May 2025. To date, most recommendations on use of emergency contraception (EC) pills in lactating women suggest that if EC pills with ulirpistal acetate (UPA) were used, breast milk should be expressed and discarded for one week. This is also the recommendation in the product labels. In the United Kingdom, the Guideline Development Group for…
May 2025. The discussions on reclassifying emergency contraceptive (EC) pills to be available over the counter (OTC) continues in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering implementing a pilot program for pharmacy EC dispensing, similar to the one implemented in Japan. Under the Japanese trial, women above 16 can obtain EC pills without…
April 2025. The United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) and technical experts published a new round of estimates covering 2000 to 2023. The estimates represent the most up to date, internationally comparable global, regional and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 and 2023. Some key facts: Find the Full Report…
April 2025. Health authorities in England announced that emergency contraceptive (EC) pills will be available for free from pharmacies. Currently EC pills are provided for free in National Health Service (NHS) units. However, when procured directly from the pharmacy, the price of EC pills may vary extensively from one pharmacy, neighborhood or town, to another,…
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…
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