Author: Cristina Puig

February 2021. The World Health Organization just added two chapters to its Family Planning Handbook. One of them addresses contraception delivery during an epidemic. These are some of the recommendations: Providers should ensure that individuals make voluntary and informed choices, and that privacy and confidentiality are respected. Multiple doses of emergency contraceptive pills can be provided. Many…

January, 2021. Scientists at University of Utah Health found that hormonal intra uterine devices (IUDs) were comparable to copper IUDs for use as emergency contraceptives. According to the researchers, the finding would support adding hormonal IUDs to current emergency contraception options. Read more here.

January 2021. New brands of ulipristal acetate emergency contraception pills are becoming available in some European countries; as of January 2021 these can be found in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. Visit the Country by country section of our website for more details on specific brands…

December 2020.  In Malta, a discussion is being held in Parliament these days, about the need for all pharmacies in the country to carry emergency contraception (EC) pills, in order to ensure timely access to this contraceptive method. Surprisingly, some members of parliament still consider that EC pills can threaten Maltese law, under which human…

December 2020. On November 26, the Members of the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the setback to women’s sexual and reproductive rights in Poland, and drawing attention to the legal obligation of the European Union to uphold and protect these rights. The resolution also urges Polish authorities to repeal the law limiting access to the…

November 2020. The Spanish Society for Contraception (SEC) just published the findings of its annual National Contraception Survey 2020, based on phone interviews conducted among 1800 women of reproductive age, between July and August 2020. With regards to emergency contraception (EC) use, 38% of the women surveyed reported having ever used EC at some point…

November 2020. In September 2020, BPAS undertook a mystery shopper survey to assess whether and how pharmacies in the United Kingdom deliver the mandatory consultation for emergency contraception (EC) during the COVID-19 pandemic; and to assess whether and how easily women can access EHC without compromising on social distancing practices. In the UK EC can…

November 2020. After using oral emergency contraception (EC), women remain at risk of unintended pregnancy, and thus subsequent use of effective contraception is advised. A study in the United Kingdom tested innovative strategies to bridge EC provision to the uptake of ongoing contraception methods. In this study, a supply of the progestogen-only pill, and an invitation…

November 2020. A study investigating timing of combined oral contraceptive pill (COC) restart after missed pills and use of ulipristal acetate emergency contraception (UPA EC), was recently published. According to the study (Banh C, Rautenberg T, Duijkers IJ, et al. The effects on ovarian activity of delaying versus immediately restarting combined oral contraception after missing…

November 2020. The European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights launched the 4th edition of the European Contraception Policy Atlas on November 12th. The map scores 46 countries throughout Europe on access to modern contraception. Some of this year’s findings are the following: • Access to modern, effective and affordable contraception remains a  challenge…