Pharmaceutical care for emergency contraception users

Abstract

The article addresses results from a broader survey entitled “A socio-anthropological investigation about drugstores: position of pharmacists and clerks on emergency contraception”, carried out from 2012 to 2014. The purpose of this study is to understand pharmacists and clerks’ conceptions and practices about the commercialization of emergency contraception in Brazil. The data was collected through an anonymous, self-administered on-line questionnaire available on the DataSUS/FormSUS Platform, and the disclosure of the study had the Brazilian pharmaceutical societies support. 383 pharmacists participated voluntarily (n=383), from which 74.5% were female and 25.5% were male. Most interviewees (78.1%) said that consumers usually have questions about emergency contraception and its use, and they often seek the professionals to clarify them. Most of them (88.4%) have already sought information about the emergency contraception, and a significant proportion of pharmacists (49.9%) do not know about their distribution in the Brazilian National Health System (SUS). The pharmaceutical service to emergency contraception users is problematized, considering the importance of including these professionals in the Brazilian public debate on the subject and valuing their clinical performance in pharmacies and drugstores. Furthermore, we discuss the rational use of medicines and the contributions of social sciences to the subject.