February 2021. The Radio Télévision Suisse program 15 Minutes, looks at the Swiss model of emergency contraception dispensation through pharmacies, in which consultation is mandatory and paid for by the client.

Journalist Coraline Pauchard looks at the pros and cons of this model, in a report that you can listen here (in French).

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 contraceptive methods, including emergency contraception, can be safely and effectively self-administered without a physical exam. Indiviudals can initiate and continue these methods with or without the support of a health care worker.
• During an epidemic, emergency contraceptive pills (and other methods) should be dispensed without a prescription and distributed in community outreach programs, where allowed by national regulations.

Overarching messages of this chapter are:

• Family planning services should be maintained throughout an epidemic.
• Medical eligibility criteria for safe use of contraceptive methods do not change during an epidemic.
• Some contraceptive methods can be safely and effectively self-administered, with or without support from health care providers.
• Greater use of digital health technologies may optimize access to care.

Access the full chapter here or from WHO’s Family Planning Handbook website. 

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 supports 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 available in each country.

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 life is protected from conception.

We thought it would not be necessary to say it one more time (we are almost in 2021), but we will do this again: EC pills work mainly by preventing or delaying ovulation; if ovulation cannot be stopped and fertilisation occurs, EC pills will not interfere with implantation.

If you are going to design a reproductive health public policy, and think you should learn more about EC before, we kindly advice you to read:

• Emergency Contraception: questions and answers for decision-makers; International Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ICEC), 2013
• Emergency contraception – Key facts; World Health Organization, 2018 
• Mechanism of Action; How do levonorgestrel-only emergency contraceptive pills (LNG ECPs) prevent pregnancy? International Federation of Gynecology & Obstetrics (FIGO) and ICEC, 2012.
• EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE PILLS – Medical and Service Delivery Guidance; ICEC & FIGO, 2018.

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 emergency contraceptive pill.

In 2015, UPA EC pills became directly available from pharmacies in Poland (and in all European Union countries except for Hungary) as a result of European Medicines Agency’ recommendations. However, in July 2017, a new law entered into effect in Poland, reinstating mandatory prescription for UPA EC. Local experts report that doctors often deny prescriptions for EC pills on the grounds of personal beliefs.

Poland and Hungary are the sole European Union countries that still require a prescription for EC pills. Both countries disregard EC pills safety profile, and the fact that time to treatment is essential to maximize efficacy.

Read “European Parliament resolution of 26 November 2020 on the de facto ban on the right to abortion in Poland (2020/2876(RSP))” here.

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 of their lives. The percentage exceeds 40% among women between ages of 20 to 39. In previous surveys conducted by SEC in 2018 and 2011, 30% and 14% of the respondents, respectively, reported having ever used EC.

This shows a clear trend of increased use since prescription requirements were removed in 2009. This trend has also been observed in other European countries such as Italy (see Ministry of Health report of 2018). To our knowledge, only Norway has registered a decrease in EC use in the past few years. According to local experts, this is likely due to efforts to make ongoing contraception more accessible, and to a strong uptake of long acting reversible contraception methods (LARCs) among younger women.