AFP reported on April 29th that the Japanese Ministry of Health , Labor and Welfare has approved MeFeego Pack, an abortion pill manufactured by Linepharma (UK). This is the first abortion pill to be licensed in Japan.
MeFeego Pack is the first abortion pill to be licensed in Japan.
SCREENSHOT FROM SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
This medication is a two-step abortion method, consisting of two components, mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers safe and effective. It can be used for pregnancies up to 9 weeks. In a clinical trial in Japan, 93% of participants completed the abortion within 24 hours.
Linepharma submitted its application for approval in December 2021. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare convened an initial review meeting in January and subsequently solicited public feedback through an online portal. On April 21, a specialized committee of the ministry approved the drug, and the ministry issued its final approval decision on April 28.
Abortion in Japan is legal until the 22nd week of pregnancy, but requires the consent of the father. According to CNN, Japanese women are only allowed to have abortions if the pregnancy could cause significant health harm, or for economic reasons, or in cases of rape.
For a long time, abortions have only been performed at medical facilities, and the procedure can cost between 100,000 and 200,000 yen (approximately 17-34 million VND). NHK reported that the total cost of abortion pills and doctor's counseling is around 100,000 yen. These costs are not covered by public health insurance.
Japanese activists have been pushing for the approval of abortion pills for years, even though similar drugs had been approved in other countries decades earlier. France first approved mifepristone in 1988, while the US did so in 2000.
Mifepristone has been at the center of a legal battle in the U.S. courts over the past few weeks. The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily upheld the right of citizens to access the drug, suspending rulings by lower courts that had called for a ban or severe restrictions on it.
Source link
Comment (0)