Forgetting to slip your pill into your handbag before leaving for the evening, leaving it on the living room table when you go on vacation… Forgetting to take a pill happens so quickly! However, access to this hormonal contraceptive must be made through a doctor, a gynecologist or a midwife. With the delays in appointments with the gynecologist and the medical deserts, it is almost impossible today to obtain the pill immediately. Health professionals say stop and now want to facilitate access to this contraceptive for all women.
How? 'Or' What ? By ensuring that the pill is dispensed without a prescription in pharmacies. For this, the collective named #Libérezmapilule launched, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, a petition on the Change site to ask pharmaceutical companies for authorization to market a contraceptive pill that is freely accessible.
This pill would be progestin, that is to say that it contains only one hormone, in very small quantities. Its contraindications can be identified very easily using a questionnaire. Women who wish to obtain the pill directly from the pharmacy without going through the doctor's office will therefore simply have to answer a series of questions from the pharmacist, to check for any contraindications. Another important point:contrary to popular belief, the prescription of the contraceptive pill does not require screening for STIs or cancers of the cervix or breast. Whether it is a first request or a renewal, the risks associated with taking the pill are neither less nor greater than if it were issued by a doctor.
On Twitter, the reactions following the publication of the petition were not long in coming. There are those who strongly hope that this proposal will be adopted…
Even the Minister of Families, Children and Women's Rights, Laurence Rossignol wanted to support the #Libérezmapilule collective via a tweet.
And, there are those who are still a little skeptical...
Despite diverging opinions, Caroline Rebhi, co-president of Family Planning, affirms:"With a progestogen pill, whose side effects are limited, there are few risks to women's health". Indeed, many neighboring countries have already adopted the system:Portugal, Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Turkey and Russia. And the studies are reassuring! Just have to wait patiently for France to take the leap (finally)?
