Virtually no data exist on knowledge and use of EC in the Arab world. Three recent papers investigated awareness and perceptions of hormonal emergency contraception among married women outpatients in a maternity hospital, married women within a Kuwaiti extended family and their social contacts, and among retail pharmacists in Kuwait, using a self-administered questionnaire in all studies.

These papers are especially significant, explains Angel Foster, the EC Coordinator for the Arab World Regional Network, since "the research conducted by this team makes an important contribution to the small but growing body of research on emergency contraception in the Arab world. As few studies have examined attitudes toward and knowledge of EC in the region, these articles have the potential to serve as a valuable resource for researchers and advocates working to increase access to EC both in the Gulf and in the region as a whole.”

The above articles were authored by Douglas E. Ball, Najlaa Marafie, and Eman Abahussain.

Optinor, the emergency contraception (EC) pill distributed by ICON, arrived in Chile this week, becoming the only EC product currently available in Chile. ICON, the wholly-owned subsidiary of IPPF, worked with a generic manufacturer to produce Optinor, a high-quality, low-cost EC pill, to respond to the global need for more affordable and accessible EC.

In recent months, political debate surrounding access to EC in Chile has intensified, culminating in a ruling which allowed the no-cost provision of EC through public health services to women and girls aged fourteen and over. However, with other brands withdrawn from the market, access to EC was limited until the arrival of Optinor. Formal registration of the product is underway. Until then, Asociación Chilena de Protección de la Familia, (APROFA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Member Association in Chile, has received an emergency resolution from the ISP (Public Sanitary Institution) to distribute Optinor as of this week. APROFA has acquired 10,000 boxes of Optinor to meet the initial demand for EC and to ensure access to EC.

On January 29th, Chile's President, Michelle Bachelet, signed a decree allowing a plan announced last year to move forward. This is the most recent step in a political and legal battle between Bachelet's government and conservative forces in Chile.  On September 2, 2006, the Chilean government issued new norms for public hospitals and clinics, specifying that women and girls 14 and over can obtain birth control, including emergency contraception, free of cost from public health centers. Under the norms, girls 14 and over are to be able to obtain birth control without parental authorization. The measure, announced by the Health Minister, is aimed at reducing Chile's high rates of adolescent pregnancy. On September 13, a court issued a temporary injunction on the free distribution of EC and on distribution to minors, pending lawsuits. On September 21, an appeals court overturned the injunction, allowing the government's plan to go forward. However, two weeks ago, the Constitutional Court ruled that the health minister did not have the power to implement the new norms, and distribution was again halted. Before the new norms were introduced, EC was available in pharmacies with a prescription for a cost of about $20, and was available free only in cases of rape.

Please read Kaiser's news coverage here. For more information about EC in Latin America, please visit the website of ICEC’s regional partner, the Latin American and Caribbean Emergency Contraception Consortium.

In November, Helen Calabretto of the University of South Australia presented the results of a study she conducted to assess knowledge and awareness of EC among young people in Australia.

Dr. Calabretto surveyed more than 600 male and female university students, and found that 75% believed that the pill must be taken the "morning after" - even though it is effective for as long as five days after unprotected intercourse. Fully half were not aware that EC does not cause an abortion, and only 35% knew that it is available directly from a pharmacist, even though a dedicated EC product has been available directly from a pharmacist since January 2002 - almost five years. "This study showed that women knew very little and the men knew even less," said Dr. Calabretto, who had recently returned to Australia from the ICEC Annual Meeting in New York. "That means people are missing opportunities to use it."

To counter low rates of knowledge and use, Dr. Calabretto recommended that EC be advertised directly to the public. She also suggested that the federal government consider offering the $40 pill free to teens under 18. "It is quite negligent to talk to young people about condoms and then not to talk to them about emergency contraception, especially when inexperienced users are the most prone to condom mishaps."

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) launched Optinor, its own dedicated Emergency Contraceptive (EC) product, at the annual International Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ICEC) meeting held on October 5th in New York.

Lester Chinery, Managing Director of the IPPF subsidiary ICON, informed ICEC members that the response from IPPF service providers had been overwhelmingly positive, with 66 of IPPF’s Member Associations expressing interest in providing Optinor. Optinor will be made available for public, social marketing and commercial programs in collaboration with IPPF Member Associations and other national partners.

George Griffith, Executive Director of the Barbados Family Planning Association, said he was pleased that women in the Caribbean would now have access to dedicated EC which would be made widely available in Barbados for any and all women who required it.

For information on the availability of this and other EC products, please visit ICEC’s EC Status and Availability database.

The Ministry of Health, Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG), ECafrique (the African Consortium for EC), and the Concept Foundation continue to work towards mainstreaming EC services into the public and non-governmental sectors. Doctors and nurses have been trained and service provision is underway in the country's five main regions: Addis Ababa, Amhara, Tigray, Oromia, and SNNPR.

This project supports incorporating EC into the pre-training curriculum of nursing, medical and community health students at each of the country's leading medical schools. Small stipends are being offered to support student research on EC. ECafrique has also developed a CD-ROM of EC-related resources for students who wish to learn more about the method, but whose access to the Internet is limited. The CD-ROM covers EC technology, service delivery guidelines, training materials, and other topics. To compliment the focus on students and their research, the project is also sponsoring guest lectures and other initiatives to exchange information on EC.

Finally, efforts are underway to secure the registration of Postinor-2 with the Ethiopian Drug Administration and Control Authority. The local pharmaceutical firm, Beker Pharmaceuticals & Medical Supplies, submitted their application for registration of the product, thereby opening up the door for future importation of Postinor 2, once current stocks are exhausted.