LIFE / Lifestyle

Pandemic provides an opportunity to improve access to contraception

With COVID-19 restrictions and related anxieties preventing many women from accessing health services when they need it most, authorities have shown a little more openness in embracing change

Morning-after pills are available in Japan, but are in practice only distributed to women who are able to get prescription from a doctor. | GETTY IMAGES

By Johann Fleuri
Contributing writer

Jan 30, 2022

The founder of a youth movement advocating sexual and reproductive health and rights in Japan is on a mission to improve access to emergency contraception for women nationwide.

Kazuko Fukuda, founder of Nandenaino (Why don’t we have it?), says the emergence of COVID-19 has raised the profile of gender issues in Japan, providing health organizations with a golden opportunity to push for increased education on women’s reproductive rights.

“We’re getting more attention from the authorities than we’ve ever had before,” Fukuda says.

Pandemic provides an opportunity to improve access to contraception

With COVID-19 restrictions and related anxieties preventing many women from accessing health services when they need it most, authorities have shown a little more openness in embracing change

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