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This report reflects some preliminary findings of an ongoing collaborative project to investigate the impact of trade liberalisation on reproductive health rights. The project aims to examine the links between trade policy and reproductive health commodities. The current paper reviews particularly the findings related to South Africa, and focuses on the availability and use of emergency contraception (EC) pills.

The report finds that there is a need to increase the awareness of both EC and EC source of supply. For example, women in particular are very unaware of the pills’ sources, while provider attitudes to EC often serve as barriers to their uptake. As a result, uptake is very low. The paper recommends the following for more research about the subject: 

• research should focus on the difference in the provision and availability of EC in the public and private sectors
• in addition to investigating the attitudes and awareness of providers, studies should also investigate the use of guidelines and training protocols by providers of EC
• more attention should be focused on the differences between dedicated and non-dedicated EC products and the impact of these products on consumer awareness of and demand for EC
• information intransperancy is likely to exist at several points in the EC supply chains, and research should attempt to understand how it impacts on the perceived demand and on the supply and distribution of EC pills
• the market structure of emergency contraception should be analysed with a view to better understanding the impact of market structure and firm-level strategy on the end consumers of EC
• the role of the private sector in supplying and distributing EC and the context in which reproductive health commodities such as EC are introduced and promoted should be further researched.
  
  

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