EC news from Italy

June  2017. A new survey and a web discussion have provided new data  about whether and how Italian women’s awareness of and access to EC has changed following the availability of UPA EC without a prescription in 2015. According to this data, 90% of the women consulted consider EC useful and 91% think it is effective; but on the other hand, 54% think EC pills may be dangerous and only 20% know that the EC pills can be purchased without a prescription. Furthermore, only 2 out of 100 women know the basic differences between UPA and LNG EC pills, which may indicate a sever lack of awareness of their  postcoital contraception choices. Doctors in Italy are asking the Ministry of Health to add EC to the list of drugs that are mandatory to have at a pharmacy as a means of preventing abortion. Please see here (in Italian and English) and here (in Italian) for more.

In order to raise awareness among the younger population, the Italian Medical Society for Contraception (SMIC) held a poster competition among students from various artistic high schools in Rome and Milan. The posters had to bring attention to different forms of contraception, including EC. The winning poster, seen at right, is titled “IL LATTICE CHE CI PIACE,” which translates to “The Latex That We Like” (condoms), and at the end of the poster is the text “And if the condom breaks? Remember: There is the pill of the next day,” referring to EC. The poster will be distributed to clubs and other youth-gathering sites throughout the summer. Please see here, here, here, and here (in Italian) for more information on the campaign and the SMIC.