According to a new UBC research study, more people began using IUDs and implants after BC.
The study, led by Dr. Laura Schummers, found a 49 percent leap in the number of “reversible contraceptives for prolonged action” (LARC) dispensed per month, 15 months after the BC free contraception program began in April 2023.
“This really tells us that there was a substantial barrier related to the cost to use contraception as a whole,” said Schummers, an assistant professor at the University of BC at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
That “larc” category, the most effective type of birth control, includes the IUD (intrauterine device), which is placed directly in the uterus, and the implant of the subdermal arm, placed under the skin at the top of the arm. The implant lasts three years, while the IUD can last up to 12 years.
The study found 11,375 additional people who use these methods within 15 months after the validity of politics.
Schummers said it shows that people in age and demography groups will prefer more effective contraceptive methods when costs are eliminated.
A IUD can cost between $ 350 and $ 450 in Canada, and the initial cost can be a barrier, according to Schummers.
Schummers said that the “historical” policy of BC has influenced discussions about free prescription medications in Canada. She pointed out that Manitoba also began a free contraception program in October 2024.
“Almost an increase of 50 percent … in the context of evaluating policy changes is huge,” said Schummers.
“These are not few people on the margins whose insurance coverage was not entirely correct. This tells us that there is a wide need for this type of broad coverage, not just a type of limited help to change a threshold of income for the availability of coverage.”
The research study used two data sources, including a national database to analyze the recipes in BC for LARC and all contraception, as well as consider that data against a control group include all the other Canadian provinces that did not release contraception.
Dr. Renée Hall, medical director of Willow’s reproductive health center in Vancouver, said her experience on the clinic’s clues with the study findings.
“There has been a significant increase since universal contraceptives began,” he said.
The clinic has actually created a new telephone line specifically for people who call reversible prolonged action contraceptives such as IUD and implant.
Hall said that the universal contraception program has given patients the opportunity to find the best contraceptive for them.
“If the IUD did not work … they could easily change to another until they found the one who could work,” he said, “while that is really difficult to do if he has to pay the $ 400 for his first IUD and then another $ 200 for the next one.”
Hall said that he recommends more training for the insertion of the IU, which said “still lacks a bit in our usual medical programs.”
Hall said the study shows that the public wants access to effective birth control and prolonged action.
“And so, the medical care community has to respond by ensuring that we are training our suppliers correctly and frequently,” he said.
