In 2004, ECafrique, in conjunction with the Zambia Ministry of Health and the Zambia Police Force (Victims Support Unit), launched an operations research study to allow sexual assault survivors greater access to EC.  This intervention tests the feasibly of providing EC through the survivor’s first points of institutional contact (FPCs)—identified in Zambia as the specially-trained Victims Support Unit (VSU) police officers and health facility personnel.

Implemented in three districts of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, ECafrique has trained providers to deliver quality EC services in 10 health facilities and 20 police stations/posts. It is grounded in the assumption that increased access to EC will encourage more survivors to enter into the institutional support system, while at the same time directly reducing the longer-term health and psychosocial effects of unwanted pregnancy.

To ensure that EC remains a viable option for assault survivors even after the project ends, an important goal of this intervention is to reintroduce a dedicated ECP into the country.  As a first step in the registration process, ECafrique has secured the donation of a small ‘seed stock’ of the dedicated ECP Postinor 2 from its Budapest-based manufacturer, Gedeon Richter. Once these 10,000 donated units enter the country, a local agent will work with Gedeon Richter to register Postinor-2 with the Zambia Drug and Poisons Board.  In return for this effort, the Ministry of Health has agreed to include ECPs in its future procurements, thereby ensuring the method’s sustainability.

ECafrique and Population Council publications on EC in Zambia:

Testing Alternative Channels for Providing Emergency Contraception to Young Women. (2001)

Testing Strategies to Improve Access to Emergency Contraception Pills: Prescription vs Prophylactic Distribution. (1999)

Emergency Contraception in Zambia: Setting a New Agenda for Research and Action. (1998)