International Consortium for Emergency Contraception resources now available in the RHSC’s online library

Two decades’ worth of resources on emergency contraception recently migrated to the RHSC’s online document repository, the Supplies Information Database (SID). The rich collection of factsheets, briefs, policy documents, and clinical guidelines were produced by the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ICEC). The resources are available in a number of languages including English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Italian; regions touched on include Latin America, South Asia, and several countries in Africa.

Emergency contraception (EC) refers to contraceptive methods that can be used to prevent pregnancy after sex; thereby offering women and girls a critical second chance to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. 

Formed in 1995 as the Consortium for Emergency Contraception, the Consortium’s early work focused on  showing that these “second chance” contraceptives could become a part of mainstream reproductive health care worldwide, given that many unplanned pregnancies in developing countries result in unsafe abortion, exacting a huge toll on women’s health and well-being. Now known as the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception (ICEC), its mission is to expand access to, and ensure safe and locally appropriate use of, emergency contraception worldwide within the context of family planning and reproductive health programs, with an emphasis on developing countries.

ICEC was instrumental in advocating for the introduction of a dedicated EC product and led the introduction of EC in a number of countries. Today women and girls in over 140 countries can buy emergency contraception pills (ECPs); and in more than 60 countries can do so without a prescription. ICEC has also helped establish regional consortia that play an important role in increasing access to EC, including the American Society for Emergency Contraception, the Latin American Consortium for EC, ECafrique, and the European Consortium for Emergency Contraception.

Over the years ICEC has benefitted from engagement in the NURHT Caucus and from support through The Innovation Fund. We hope that by making these resources available through SID they can reach a broader audience and support efforts to advocate for access to EC worldwide.

RHSC’s Supplies Information Database is dedicated to preserving and sharing the wealth of knowledge on reproductive health supplies; this rich collection of EC resources can be found online and is free to access and download.