Since January 2002 (French decree No. 2002-39), French community pharmacists have got to dispense emergency contraception anonymously and free of charge to minors (Public health code, art. D5134-1). The Cespharm and the Health policy department of the CNAMTS (French national health insurance body for salaried workers) joined forces to promote educational guidance by pharmacists of young women requiring emergency contraception.

To this end, Cespharm and the CNAMTS formed a working group composed of representatives of the Association française pour la contraception (the French association for contraception), the Mouvement français pour le planning familial (French movement for Family Planning), Fil Santé jeunes (a youth health hotline and forum), specialists in adolescence and pharmacists.

Different actions have been carried out since 2002:

- regular professional information of pharmacists, particularly via the journal of the French council of pharmacists, to recall procedures and obligations for the dispensing of emergency contraception to minors and to offer educational tools

- development, publication and distribution of information documents for young women:

• a leaflet for the pharmacist to be given systematically with the emergency contraceptive (Une contraception d’urgence, la pilule du lendemain. This document covers all information to be given by the pharmacist when dispensing the emergency contraception: instructions and conditions of use, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, importance of a regular contraception and a medical follow-up... A specific version for French overseas regions has been published.
• an information card on emergency contraception to be more widely distributed to the general public. This document aims to make the public aware of the existence but also the limits of emergency contraception. Specific versions for the different French overseas regions have been published.

Since 2002, Cespharm has provided community pharmacists with these tools to help them in the education of minor women requiring emergency contraception.

Poster displayed at the 64th FIP Congress in New Orleans Louisiana in September 2004

Talk on “Minors’ access to emergency contraception in France and the pharmacist’s role” given at the 3^rd International colloquium of local and regional health programs in Mons Belgium, April 2008