Welcome to the European Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ECEC)

Founded in 2012, ECEC works to expand knowledge about and access to Emergency Contraception (EC) in Europe, and promotes the standardization of EC service delivery to ensure equitable access across the region. Since 2020, ECEC also works globally to advance access to EC.

EC is the only contraceptive method that can be used after sex, and it provides women with an additional opportunity to prevent a pregnancy.

Through this website, we hope to contribute to generating and sharing knowledge of EC in Europe and globally. Your contributions are essential to helping us achieve this goal, and we encourage you to share EC information about your country by writing to us at ecec [at] eeirh [dot] org.

Go directly to country-by-country information on EC access

Go directly to the online EC counseling tool (The EC wheel)

Latest News

UPA medicine for uterine fibroids remains available in a number of Latin American and CIS countries

December 2024.  The marketing authorisation for Esmya was withdrawn in July from the European Economic Area and Belarus, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, at the request of the marketing-authorisation holder. (See announcement on the European’s Medicines Agency’s website here). The withdrawal was due to commercial reasons and there is no change in the safety…

Argentina: New data on EC use and access

November 2024. The Study Lucía: Uses and preferences of contraceptive methods in women aged 15 to 49 years in Argentina, was recently published. This quantitative and qualitative research has consulted 2,000 women and people identifyin as LGTB from all over the nation. The study findings, published in September 2024, include valuable information about access to…

Poland: Increased use of EC pills trough pharmacy prescription. 

November 2024. More than 11,000 prescriptions for emergency contraceptive (EC) pills have been issued since the introduction, last May, of the pilot program “Pharmaceutical Prescription Regulation for Emergency Contraception” (see https://www.ec-ec.org/poland-pilot-program-for-pharmacy-prescribing-of-ecps/). Sales of emergency contraception showed marked increases, according to the Supreme Chamber of Pharmacy: “Analysing market data from the implemented pilot, we observe a…