Building bridges from emergency contraception to regular contraceptive use in Jamaican pharmacies

In Jamaica, emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) have been available over-the-counter since 2003. The dedicated product, Postinor-2, has experienced a steady increase in sales since its change in status from a prescription-only to an over-the-counter drug. However, as demonstrated by recent studies, there is no demonstrated population level effect of emergency contraceptive pills, thus making it important that EC users who are not using a regular method be “bridged” to more effective contraception. In collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica, the National Family Planning Board, and Medimpex, the distributor of Postinor-2 in Jamaica, Family Health International conducted an intervention study of Postinor-2 users in Jamaican pharmacies. Women who purchased Postinor-2 in 20 pharmacies in Kingston, Jamaica were intercepted in an attempt to encourage those who were not already using a regular contraceptive method to adopt one. To get them started, a discount coupon for one cycle of regular pills was offered to these women to bridge them from emergency contraceptive pills to regular contraception. In addition, we collected information on women's demographic characteristics, their reasons for purchasing the product, and the frequency of use to address concerns that Postionor-2 was being used inappropriately. This presentation will present the results of the intervention and unveil the profile of women who purchase ECPs in Jamaican pharmacies.