As part of the National Population Control Programme, the Central Government has included emergency contraceptives among the various choices offered to women for preventing unwanted births.

The Government will make available emergency contraceptives free of cost for women through the Public Health Clinics (PHC) s in the country, along with other pregnancy prevention methods and options offered through the PHCs under the programme.

Now three emergency contraceptive pills, namely Ec2, Pill 72 and Linonorges, are available in the Indian market, and all the three pills will be offered through the PHCs as one among the methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies, according to Dr.Sadhana K Desai, President, Federation of Obstetrician and Gynecology Society of India (FOGSI).

She said the Government has informed FOGSI on this a week ago and the pills will be soon available through the PHCs. Talking at a seminar on contraception organized in Chennai, last week, she noted that though millions of women wanted to avoid pregnancies, a majority were reluctant to use contraceptives, and go in for sterilization.

She noted that in the current family planning practices, 71 per cent of the birth control measures are through sterilization of women. This could be mainly due to their lack of awareness on other healthy alternatives, noted the FOGSI President. She said emergency contraceptives, popularly known as morning after pill, are not considered as a common contraceptive measure, but it is an emergency pill that has to be used very sparingly required.