Emergency Contraception

Despite its safety and efficacy, emergency contraception (EC) continues to spark political controversy worldwide. In this edited volume, authors explore how emergency contraception has been received, interpreted, and politicized, through the in-depth examination of the journey of EC in 16 individual countries.

Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use reviews the medical eligibility criteria for use of contraception, offering guidance on the safety and use of different methods for women and men with specific characteristics or known medical conditions. The recommendations are based on systematic reviews of available clinical and epidemiological research. It is a companion guideline to Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use. Together, these documents are intended to be used by policy-makers, program managers, and the scientific community to support national programs in the preparation of service delivery guidelines. The fourth edition of this useful resource supersedes previous editions, and has been fully updated and expanded. It includes over 86 new recommendations and 165 updates to recommendations in the previous edition. Guidance for populations with special needs is now provided, and a new annex details evidence on drug interactions from concomitant use of antiretroviral therapies and hormonal contraceptives. To assist users familiar with the third edition, new and updated recommendations are highlighted. Everyone involved in providing family planning services and contraception should have the fourth edition of Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use at hand.

Since 2006, when the “morning-after pill” Plan B was first sold over the counter, sales of emergency contraceptives have soared, becoming an $80-million industry in the United States and throughout the Western world. But emergency contraception is nothing new. It has a long and often contentious history as the subject of clashes not only between medical researchers and religious groups, but also between different factions of feminist health advocates. The Morning After tells the story of emergency contraception in America from the 1960s to the present day and, more importantly, it tells the story of the women who have used it. Side-stepping simplistic readings of these women as either radical feminist trailblazers or guinea pigs for the pharmaceutical industry, medical historian Heather Munro Prescott offers a portrait of how ordinary women participated in the development and popularization of emergency contraception, bringing a groundbreaking technology into the mainstream with the potential to alter radically reproductive health practices.

This document is one of two evidence-based cornerstones of the World Health Organization's (WHO) new initiative to develop and implement evidence-based guidelines for family planning. The first cornerstone, the Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (third edition) published in 2004, provides guidance for who can use contraceptive methods safely. This document, the Selected practice recommendations for contraceptive use (second edition), provides guidance for how to use contraceptive methods safely and effectively once they are deemed to be medically appropriate. The recommendations contained in this document are the product of a process that culminated in an expert Working Group meeting held at the World Health Organization, Geneva, 13-16 April 2004.

Despite its safety and efficacy, emergency contraception (EC) continues to spark political controversy worldwide. In this edited volume, authors explore how emergency contraception has been received, interpreted, and politicized, through the in-depth examination of the journey of EC in 16 individual countries.

Written by the foremost authority in the field, this volume is a comprehensive review of the multifaceted phenomenon of hepatotoxicity. Dr. Zimmerman examines the interface between chemicals and the liver; the latest research in experimental hepatotoxicology; the hepatotoxic risks of household, industrial, and environmental chemicals; and the adverse effects of drugs on the liver. This thoroughly revised, updated Second Edition features a greatly expanded section on the wide variety of drugs that can cause liver injury. For quick reference, an appendix lists these medications and their associated hepatic injuries. Also included are in-depth discussions of drug metabolism and factors affecting susceptibility to liver injury.

WHO strongly recommends making over-the-counter emergency contraceptive pills available without a prescription to individuals who wish to use emergency contraception. This recommendation is based on the systematic review of the literature relevant to the question “Should ECPs be made available without a clinician’s prescription?” conducted by WHO in 2021.