Author: Cristina Puig

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…

September 2024. In Spain, almost 40% of women of reproductive age report having used emergency contraception pills (ECPs) at least once in their lifetime. Ever use of ECPs is more frequent among women 25 to 39 years of age, and particularly in the age range of 30 to 34, which is also the population with…

September 2024. ASTRA Network (www.astra.org.pl) and the European Consortium for Emergency Contraception presented their latest research findings at the 15th FIAPAC Conference 2024, which was held in Brussels on September 20-21.   This collaborative research looked into the cost of emergency contraception pills (ECPs) in select European countries. Our findings show significant disparities across the region,…

July 2024.  The World Health Organization (WHO)/HRP just published Implementation of self-care interventions for health and well-being: guidance for health systems. Aimed at those around the world implementing self-care interventions, the publication reviews WHO’s six health systems building blocks, and looks at the implementation considerations necessary for each. Several country case studies are also included….

July 2024. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the Company Chemists’ Association, the National Pharmacy Association and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare are calling for the next government to commission a national Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) service from community pharmacies in England, similar to current arrangements in Scotland and Wales. Theses organizations demand a National Emergency…

July 2024. The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) just published the Contraceptive Social Marketing Statistics Report 2023. The report (which to date has been published by DKT) aggregates last year’s sales data for contraceptives and safe abortion supplies of Social Marketing programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) worldwide. Regarding emergency contraception, over 39 million…

June 2024. In Germany, the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court ruled that a pharmacist cannot refuse dispensing emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) because of his or her beliefs or “conscience”. The Berlin Pharmacist Chamber had initiated a process against a pharmacist who systematically refused to stock and dispense ECPs in his pharmacy because he believed ECPs could…

June 2024. The Spanish Family Planning Federation (SEDRA) just published an assessment of contraception accessibility in the 17 regions (Comunidades Autónomas) that conform Spain. Access to emergency contraception (EC) is included, in particular, free-of-cost provision and quality of the information provided to EC users regarding mechanism of action and subsequent use of contraception after EC. …