(Getty Pictures Financial institution)
Korea fills greater than 300,000 prescriptions for emergency contraceptive capsules annually, however their classification as prescription-only medicine limits entry, prompting requires the federal government to think about increasing availability of the morning-after capsule alongside the introduction of abortion capsules.
In response to information obtained by Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Social gathering of Korea from the Well being Insurance coverage Evaluate and Evaluation Service, prescriptions for emergency contraceptives, also called Plan B, rose from 264,902 in 2021 to 323,116 in 2022, surpassing 300,000 for the primary time.
The annual whole reached 345,237 in 2023 earlier than falling to 317,952 in 2024 and 309,361 in 2025. An additional 216,937 prescriptions had been issued by August this yr.
Greater than half of the prescriptions went to ladies of their 20s, whereas 30,000 to 40,000 prescriptions had been issued to youngsters annually.
Regardless of being a time-sensitive type of contraception, the capsules can’t be bought immediately at pharmacies in Korea with no physician’s prescription. Emergency contraceptives must be taken inside 72 hours of sexual activity, and their effectiveness declines the longer an individual waits.
The reported success charge is 95% when taken inside 24 hours, 85% when taken between 24 and 48 hours, and 58% when taken between 48 and 72 hours. But sufferers should first discover a medical facility prepared to prescribe the remedy, doubtlessly delaying entry.
Value is one other barrier. As a result of each consultations and the remedy are excluded from nationwide medical insurance protection, costs fluctuate by hospital and pharmacy. Costs listed by some suppliers vary from 15,000 gained to 40,000 gained for the remedy alone. Together with session charges, a single dose may value greater than 60,000 gained, in response to estimates based mostly on publicly out there costs.
In lots of different international locations, emergency contraceptive capsules can be found over-the-counter. The European Consortium for Emergency Contraception says pharmacies in 90 international locations enable customers to buy them with no prescription.
Japan additionally started permitting pharmacy gross sales in February. France has gone additional, offering emergency contraceptives freed from cost beneath its medical insurance system to individuals of all ages since 2023. Within the UK, the capsules are additionally out there freed from cost at pharmacies.
The World Well being Group beneficial in 2024 that emergency contraceptives be made out there with no prescription.
Korea thought of reclassifying Plan B capsules as over-the-counter medicine in 2012 as a part of a broader overview of remedy classifications. The proposal was shelved following opposition from the medical group, which argued that a physician’s prescription was obligatory due to potential unwanted effects.
The federal government initially stated it might revisit the difficulty after three years of monitoring however introduced in 2016 that the capsules would stay prescription-only. The talk mirrored the present controversy over introducing abortion capsules, with medical teams emphasizing considerations about security. Greater than a decade later, the classification stays unchanged.
Specialists are calling for broader entry to emergency contraception, citing ladies’s high quality of life and reproductive autonomy.
“Korea’s medical insurance is targeted on well being advantages, and the one further factor it covers is childbirth. However reproductive rights, from contraception to childbirth, span a girl’s total life, and they need to be assured as rights,” stated Lee Dong-geun, the vice chair of Korean Pharmacists for a Democratic Society.
Kim Dong-sik, a senior analysis fellow on the Korean Ladies’s Improvement Institute, stated emergency contraception must be accessible at close by pharmacies earlier than a being pregnant reaches the purpose the place abortion is taken into account.
“Emergency contraceptives are one thing ladies ought to be capable to get hold of at a close-by pharmacy by their very own choices earlier than they discover themselves in a state of affairs requiring an abortion,” Kim stated. He added that the federal government ought to revisit entry to emergency contraceptives and insurance coverage protection alongside discussions on remedy abortion.
By Son Ji-min, workers reporter
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
