New EC guidelines template

ECEC is excited to introduce a new guidelines template, which intends to aid in the development or updating of EC guidelines in European countries according to the best available evidence. Download emergency contrantraception: A guideline for service provision in Europe here. Developed with the support of the European Society of Contraception, this tool addresses the…

WHO guidelines frame EC in human rights context

WHO has released new guidelines on priority actions needed to ensure that different human rights dimensions are systematically and clearly integrated into the provision of contraceptive information and services. Regarding EC, the guidelines recommend that EC be included within the essential medicine supply chain; that special efforts be made to provide comprehensive EC information and…

FRA releases report on violence against women in the EU

On March 5, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is hosting a conference to launch the results of the largest violence against women survey ever undertaken in the EU.  Findings are based on interviews with 42,000 women across the 28 EU Member States and focus on women’s experiences of physical, sexual, and psychological…

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European Medicines Agency to review EC

Beginning in January 2014, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) started reviewing emergency contraceptives to assess whether increased body weight and body mass index (BMI) reduce the efficacy of these medications. Based on the results of this review, EMA will assess whether any changes should be made to the product information for emergency contraceptives containing levonorgestrel…

European Cross-National Study About EC Use and Attitudes

A study published in the European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care in 2013 sought to identify knowledge of and attitudes towards EC among women from five European countries. Sexually-active women from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom were asked about their use of and opinions on EC in an internet-based survey….

OTC status for EC recommended in Germany

Following a long debate in Germany over whether LNG EC should have an over the counter status, the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices recommended recently that emergency contraception pills should be available without a prescription. It is now up to the Minister of Health to decide whether he will adopt the recommendation…

Spanish National Health Service fails to fund EC

It was recently reported that the Spanish National Health Service (NHS) does not fund EC nor does it reimburse patients who purchase EC. Furthermore, EC availability is dependent on the regions within Spain, and it is not universally available throughout the country. This issue was raised by Grupo Parlamentario de Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD),…

ECEC publishes article in WHO’s Entre Nous magazine

ECEC has published an article in WHO’s Entre Nous European Magazine for Sexual and Reproductive Health. In it, ECEC outlines the unequal EC access situation in Europe and advocates for the standardization of EC guidelines across the continent to help reduce these inequalities. Ultimately, ECEC recommends that every woman seeking EC be informed of the…

Barriers to accessing EC in Italy

In a new study published in The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Italian researchers explore the empirical and theoretical reasons behind why doctors and pharmacists may refuse to provide women with EC. Although evidence suggests that refusal typically is based on grounds of conscious, the researchers argue that the category of conscientious objection is not…