Status of Emergency Contraceptives in Europe One Year after the European Medicines Agency's Recommendation to Switch Ulipristal Acetate to Non-Prescription Status

Abstract

Background: In November 2014, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended switching the emergency contraceptive (EMC) ulipristal acetate to non-prescription status. This study's objective is to assess the current legal status of the two EMCs ulipristal acetate and levonorgestrel in Europe and to report on the development of sales figures for EMCs since they were made freely available. Methods: Health authorities were contacted in autumn 2015 and asked about the current status of EMCs and whether the sales figures had changed after a switch to non-prescription status. Additionally, data on consumption were collected in 18 German community pharmacies. Results: As of November 2015, most countries in the European Union (EU) have followed the EMA recommendation. Hungary kept the prescription-only status. In Malta, EMC drugs are not authorized. Germany and Croatia switched levonorgestrel to non-prescription status as well. Of the EU candidate and European Free Trade Association countries, ulipristal acetate is available without prescription in Norway and Bosnia and Herzegovina only. Several countries reported an increase in EMC sales since the switch. Conclusions: An EMA recommendation can strongly contribute to the harmonization of a drug's legal status in the EU. In most European countries, ulipristal acetate and/or levonorgestrel are now freely available.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Emergency Contraceptive among Undergraduate Female College Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…With regard, to when oral emergency contraceptive pill(s) could be used effectively, about (52.0%) reported as "immediately after unprotected sexual intercourse" and this result is in line with the studies in the Journal of School Nursing and India [23,24]. More than two-third 71.3% of the study participants responded that using emergency contraceptive is illegal in china and only about 35.7% of the participants knew that a prescription is not required to obtain emergency contraceptive pills which is consistent with the European Medicine Agency that recommended the legality of emergency contraceptive and freely availability of EC without prescription in most European Union countries [25].…”

Prevalence and Correlates of Emergency Contraceptive Use in Transitional Albania

“…In Germany, where EMCs are freely available since 2015, the consumption of EMCs seems to have reached a stable level of currently about 0.025 DDDs per 1,000 in-▶table 1 Sample structure and prevalence of knowledge about and use of emergency contraceptives. [13,17]. However, the estimation for Albania is rough and needs to be investigated on a larger data basis.…”

“…To speed up access to EMCs, the European Medicines Agency recommended switching UPA to non-prescription status in November 2014 [11]. As of February 2017, LNG and/or UPA are freely available in many European countries [12,13].…”

“Beyond Personal Beliefs”

“…In conclusion, the results of this study show that health care providers working on Italian family health centers perceive themselves as nonjudgmental, and they interpret their own behavior as an attempt to answer adolescents’ SRH needs in an open-minded way. In the future, it would be useful to investigate with quantitative studies, also in Italy, whether this perception of a nonjudgmental attitude actually affects providers’ medical practice, as recently done in Europe (Italia & Brand, 2016). Evidences in fact have shown the presence of a reticence among health care providers in prescribing contraception to adolescents (Ahanonu, 2014; Mngadi et al, 2008) and a tendency to put barriers in the provision of EC pills (Ceva & Moratti, 2013).…”