UK: Demand to reclassify oral EC

ByCristina Puig

January 2024.  In the United Kingdom, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) published a statement calling for the reclassification of oral emergency contraception (EC) from a Pharmacy (P) medicine to General Sales List (GSL), “to enable oral EC to be purchased from general retail outlets, from supermarkets to petrol stations, removing barriers and improving access for all”.

The position has been endorsed by eight leading organizations in the sector, The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FPM), The Faculty of Public Health (FPH), The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), MSI Reproductive Choices, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service (NUPAS) and Brook.

To ECEC knowledge, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are the only two countries in Europe where a consultation with the pharmacy team before purchasing EC is mandatory and paid for. 

Read the Faculty’s press release and full statement here:

https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-position-statement-on-reclassification-of-oral-emergency/

https://www.fsrh.org/news/fsrh-press-release-medical-leaders-call-for-the/

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