Increasing women's access to emergency contraception through policy change in Latin America

Significance: Promoting policy change to increase global access to emergency contraception (EC) is fundamental to advancing women's health and rights. Expanding EC access through increased political support and progressive public policies advances women's rights and improves women's health outcomes by reducing rates of maternal mortality, unsafe abortion, and unwanted pregnancy.

Objective: International Health Programs (IHP) of the Public Health Institute (PHI) is implementing the Emergency Contraception Leadership Initiative (ECLI), an innovative program to build political support among policymakers to expand access to EC in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

Methods: Funded by the Compton and WestWind Foundations, ECLI has trained 48 leaders in Latin America to advance policies that increase availability of EC. Participants implement innovative country strategies to build political support among policymakers and increase public knowledge of EC among underserved groups, especially indigenous women, youth, and commercial sex workers.

Results: Program results indicate that increased political support and policy change are vital to mainstreaming EC and advancing women's health and rights. Evaluations demonstrate that participants are successfully increasing EC availability at national and local levels by building support for both EC and women's health among policymakers, women's rights activists, the media, and religious leaders.

Conclusions: ECLI is successfully advancing women's health and rights by building political commitment of policymakers to expanding access to EC in Latin America. This innovative program is promoting policy change throughout the region, resulting in broader support and increased access to EC.