The experiment should start already this summer. Birth control pills can be bought without a prescription in about 90 countries.
Japan’s health ministry plans to allow the sale of birth control pills without a prescription for a trial period. Only certain pharmacies are allowed to sell pills.
For example, the Japanese broadcasting company tells about it NHK and news agency Kyodo News.
The Ministry of Health’s expert panel told about its plan at the beginning of the week. The experiment should start already this summer.
In the expert panel’s public survey last year, more than 90 percent of the respondents supported the sale of birth control pills without a prescription.
Allowing trial sales is a significant change in policy, the British newspaper estimates Guardian. The Ministry of Health only recently – in April – approved the use of abortion pills in Japan.
Birth control pills were approved by Japan in 1999. The Guardian points out that it took 40 years for birth control pills to be approved, while Viagra was approved for use in just six months.
In about 90 countries without a prescription
According to NHK, the ministry intends to decide on the sale of post-contraceptive pills as soon as possible based on the investigations carried out during the trial.
According to the Ministry of Health, birth control pills can be bought without a prescription in about 90 countries, according to the Guardian. The pills should be taken within 72 hours at the latest.
of NHK According to the report, the use of birth control pills with a prescription was approved in Japan in 2011. At that time, the Ministry of Health rejected the claims for prescription freedom, claiming that sex education in Japan is lagging behind Europe and the United States. According to the authorities, this would make the abuse or misuse of the pills more likely.