Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 March, the European network of the NGO International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF EN) published a report looking at the extent to which women in 16 countries of the European Union have easy access to modern contraceptives. The conclusions are not optimistic: in most of the countries studied, the situation has stagnated or even grown worse in recent years. Consequently, IPPF EN called on the political decision-makers to make the right to contraception one of the main conditions of improving the health and well-being of women and adolescent girls.
IPPF EN states that progress could be made through improved and increasingly integrated national sexual and reproductive health policies, better sex education in schools and more information campaigns on contraception. More generous reimbursements schemes for the contraceptives (in France) and improved medical guidelines on the distribution of contraception (in Poland and Sweden) are also suggested.
The MEPs Malin Björk (GUE/NGL, Sweden) and Sophie in 't Veld (ALDE, the Netherlands) support the conclusions of the report. “Together with abortion rights and sexuality education, access to safe and modern contraception is the very basis of sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equality. In Europe today it seems to me that one of the big challenges is the issue of financing”, said Björk. “The inequalities identified in the Barometer are unacceptable, and underline that it is time the EU included sexual and reproductive health and rights in its public health policies (…). Reproductive health must be taken out of the area of morality, and brought into the area of public health”, In 't Veld added. The Dutch MEP has submitted three Parliamentary questions to the European Commission to clarify its position on the matter. (Isabelle Lamberty)