Enhancing Access to Mifepristone via Community Pharmacies: Evidence from Routine Prescription Regulation in British Columbia, Canada
Highlights
- Approximately two-thirds of surveyed community pharmacies in British Columbia dispensed mifepristone within 3 days, with an additional 12% providing valid referrals, facilitating access to medication abortion.
- Despite near-universal geographic coverage where 99% of reproductive-aged females lived within 15-minute driving distance of a dispensing pharmacy, 23% of pharmacies neither dispensed mifepristone timely nor provided referrals, posing persistent access challenges.
- Urban pharmacies were paradoxically more likely to not dispense or refer compared to rural pharmacies, indicating systemic or operational barriers despite higher population densities.
- Socio-demographic factors such as residential instability and ethnocultural diversity correlated with poorer local availability, underscoring equity considerations in mifepristone access strategies.
Background
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This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.