This section presents country-specific information on EC availability. This information is based on data that was gathered in 2012 through an expert survey conducted by ECEC and validated in 2013. The last general update of the data presented in these pages was conducted in 2015, but individual updates are made when needed. Please note that the country profiles aim to describe national EC policies. If subnational policies apply to specific regions of a country (länders, autonomous communities, voblasts, districts, etc.), these may have not been captured in the country profile.
ECEC uses the WHO definition of the European region, which encompasses 53 countries.
ECEC will update this data periodically and welcomes contributions to ensure each country profile is accurate. Feedback can be sent to ecec [at] eeirh [dot] org.
**In January 2015, following a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency, the European Commission authorized ulipristal acetate EC pills to be accessible directly from pharmacies without the need for a prescription in the European Union zone. We are monitoring the implementation of this recommendation at the country level and updating the country profile pages as we receive information.**
ECEC would like to thank the national experts who have generously contributed to this effort to generate information and knowledge on EC accessibility in Europe: Ardian Paravani (Albania), Anna Arutshyan and Vahe Gyulkhasyan (Armenia), Christian Fiala (Austria), Teymur Huseynov and Rena Mamedova (Azerbaijan), Elena Kasko, Inga Karneeva, and the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre of Mother and Child (Belarus), Steven Weyers (Belgium), Fatima Cengic, Maiko Hashimoto and Natasa Trifunovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Dimitar Cvetkov (Bulgaria), Branko Radaković, Marina Sprem Goldstajn, and Ljiljana Lukić (Croatia), Christiana Kouta (Cyprus), Michael Fanta (Czech Republic), Charlotte Wilken-Jensen (Denmark), Kai Haldre (Estonia), Dan Apter (Finland), Bojan Jovanovski and Gligor Lozhankovski (FYR Macedonia), Caroline Moreau and Héliane Missey-Kolb (France), Iatamze Verulashvili and Marieta Kakiashvili (Georgia), Ines Thonke (Germany), Antonios Lagkadas (Greece), George Bártfai and Brigitta Éberling (Hungary), Caitriona Henchion (Ireland), Joanne Zack Pakes, Amos Ber, Daniel Seidman, Sharon Sela Ktzav, Ruth Geist (Israel), Emilio Arisi (Italy), Galina Grebennikova (Kazakhstan), Ilze Viberga and Lāsma Līdaka (Latvia), Lina Čiaplinskienė, Birutė Žilaitienė, and Vytautas Klimas (Lithuania), Charles Savona-Ventura (Malta), Charles Picavet and Kinga Jelinska (Netherlands), Ulla Leth Ollendorff (Norway), Anka Grzywacz, Krystyna Kacpura and Medard Lech (Poland), Teresa Bombas (Portugal), Galina Lesco and Rodica Comendant (Republic of Moldova), Iolanda Elena Blidaru, Catalin Groza and Borbala Koo (Romania), Lyubov Erofeeva (Russian Federation), Branka Nikolic and Katarina Sedlecky (Serbia), Vladimir Cupanik (Slovakia), Bojana Pinter (Slovenia), José Vicente González Navarro, Cristina Trilla, Joaquin Calaf, and Paloma Lobo (Spain), Kristina Gemzell Danielsson and Helena Kopp Kallner (Sweden), Brigitte Frey Tirri and Esther Spinatsch (Switzerland), Aziza Hamidova (Tajikistan), Sinan Ozalp (Turkey), Nadiia Salo and Pavlo Zamostian (Ukraine), Ali Kubba, Sharon Cameron and Shelly Mehigan Raine (United Kingdom), and Nigina Bakaeva (Uzbekistan).
