A friendly reminder, on Human Rights Day:

July 2020. A mystery shopper study recently published in the BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health (PMID:32554399, Full text) explores the standard of care around accessing EC from community pharmacies in the United Kingdom. The study concludes that while availability of EC from pharmacies has improved access, the need to have a consultation with a pharmacist introduces…

November 2020. After using oral emergency contraception (EC), women remain at risk of unintended pregnancy, and thus subsequent use of effective contraception is advised. A study in the United Kingdom tested innovative strategies to bridge EC provision to the uptake of ongoing contraception methods. In this study, a supply of the progestogen-only pill, and an invitation…

In contrast to the stories of EC refusal we’ve been hearing about in Poland, recent stories of EC refusal in Italy have been met with legal action and consequences. In the province of Pavia, a nurse has resigned following an investigation by the hospital she worked at into why she denied EC access to two…

March 2022. The neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy is the subject of UNFPA’s flagship 2022 State of World Population report, released on March 30, 2022. Titled “Seeing the Unseen,” the report examines how such pregnancies represent a global failure to uphold basic human rights. Nearly half of all pregnancies, totalling 121 million each year throughout…

May 2024. Two recent studies looked into EC dispensing practices in community pharmacies in Europe.

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…