Tag Archives: the morning after pill

Conclusion Of 2016 Video Series On ‘The Morning After Pill’ – Emergency Contraceptives – All Around The World

Contraceptives Reproductive Health No Comments

Last year SuzyKnew! took you all around the world where lovely ladies of color live to see what types and brands of emergency contraceptives we could find.

We visited 10 cities across Africa, Europe, the U.S. and the Caribbean. SuzyKnew! visited Hyattsville, MD, USA, Hilton Head, SC, USA, Lagos, Nigeria, Paris, France, Strasbourg, France, Zurich, Switzerland, Johannesburg, South Africa, Cotonou, Benin, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Luanda, Angola.

We mainly found Norlevo and Ella One – especially in Europe. In the States Plan B and Postinor prevailed. In the U.S., there was usually one brand name product available and a generic but one of the products was usually stocked out.  Europe was better stocked and places like Cotonou, Port-au-Prince and Luanda had a wider selection at least at the pharmacies SuzyKnew! visited.

Prices were as low as one or two dollars in places like Lagos, Nigeria to $50 in Zurich, Switzerland. Prices were the highest in the U.S. and Switzerland and lowest in Africa and the Caribbean. Most pharmacies didn’t mind the attention or question.  Pharmacy workers in the U.S. were the most uncomfortable when they saw me with my cell phone video taping.

The good news, ladies, is we do have choices out there, if we’re out there traveling. But, some pharmacies in Africa and the Caribbean were offering products at suspiciously low prices with questionable names and labeling. So, select a product you’re familiar with when possible.

In 2017, SuzyKnew! will start a new video series. We want to interview you on the sexual or reproductive health topic that concerns you the most. Email us at SuzyKnew@suzyknew.com to get an exclusive interview.

Keep it sexy!

Keep it healthy!

SuzyKnew!

It’s All About The Exchange Rate: ‘The Morning After Pill’ In Luanda, Angola

Contraceptives Reproductive Health No Comments

Today, we’re visiting pharmacies in Luanda, the world’s most expensive city, as a part of our year-long series going all around the world where lovely ladies of color live too see what brands of emergency contraceptives (EC) are available.

As in most locations SuzyKnew! has visited, pharmacies in Luanda are generally offering two brands of levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives: a brand name and a generic. In Luanda pharmacies, the most seen EC is Norlevo. It’s generally priced around 5,000 kwanzas which is anywhere between $12 – $50 depending on whether you’re using the unofficial (i. e., black market) rate or official rate. This is a big difference, and this is the highest price we’ve seen in Africa for manufacturer’s HRA Pharma’s Norlevo. But, Luanda isn’t called the world’s most expensive city for nothing! (And, don’t forget in Zurich Norlevo was $55!)

We are also finding generics such as an Indian-manufactured EC called I-72 for lower prices – around 1000 Kwanzas. This is anywhere between $2 and $10 depending on your exchange rate.  And, this price is similar to what we’ve been finding in other African countries. But, it’s all about quality, too, which is important to keep in mind when you’re trying to not get pregnant.

While there were more brands and types of emergency contraceptives available in Luanda last year ago before oil prices fell and the economy fell with it in this oil-dependent country. Pharmacies in urban areas routinely carried several brands and types of EC including ella.

So, if you’re Angolan living here earning kwanzas EC, is more expensive and if you’re paid in foreign currency or visiting, it’s all about the exchange rate! But, nonetheless, today in Luanda, Angola, we lovely ladies of color continue to have a choice in emergency contraceptive brands.

Looking forward to seeing you at our next pharmacy!

Photo courtesy on MS-Moniz Silva, one of Angola’s largest pharmacy chains.

Looking For “The Morning After Pill” In Haiti

Contraceptives Reproductive Health No Comments

Bonjour, Ladies!

Today, we’re in Haiti. We’re continuing our year-long video series on looking for “The Morning After Pill” or emergency contraceptives all around the world where “Lovely Ladies of Color” live to see what we can find.

Today’s pharmacy is located in Port-au-Prince – the capital city.  The ladies here have several choices – but they all seem to be generic pills coming from neighboring country Dominican Republic. All the packaging and inserts are in Spanish. I didn’t see anything in French. So, if you need to read the instructions on the package insert and you don’t speak Spanish, you’re out of luck

Our first attempt was at a modest pharmacy.

We visited a second and third pharmacy. The third pharmacy was Giant pharmacy located at an upscale supermarket. Giant had the brand Postday manufactured by Gedeon Richter. Gedeo Richter emergency contraceptives were found in Lagos, Nigeria and in the U.S. as well.  Also, the manufacturer seems to have the most affordable emergency contraceptives – at least where lovely ladies of color live.

Note: Our EC video studies aren’t exactly scientific!

Photo courtesy of Lakaywear.com

Walmart Doesn’t Want To Talk About The Morning After Pill Available In One Of Its South Carolina Stories

Contraceptives Reproductive Health No Comments

This time SuzyKnew! went south to the Carolina lowcountry looking for emergency contraceptives (EC) . While we would have loved to have visited with our sisters on Gullah Island we were based closer to the mainland on Hilton Head Island and went to the Walmart.

We found two brands of the Morning After Pill in the South Carolina Walmart, Plan B One Step at $46.87 and Gedeon Richter’s generic version Take Action for $34.78. Like the other U.S. pharmacy we visited in Hyattsville, MD (Rite Aid), Walmart had only one of the brands available.  Take Action was on the shelf while the branded EC was stocked out.  And, no Ella, which works better for us curvy (read heavier) ladies of color, but requires a prescription in the U.S. so you can’t see it out in the open. Also like Rite Aid, Walmart did not want to be a part of this video and essentially ran away when the taping started.  Pharmacists and pharmacy workers haven’t been so camera shy in non-U.S. places. In Paris, Lagos, Strasbourg, Zurich and Johannesburg, the pharmacists were curious and didn’t mind being a part of the video.  When I asked questions some saw me taping and actually spoke up so their voices would be captured on tape.

So, don’t get any ideas that pharmacy workers in the U.S. are more comfortable talking about emergency contraceptives than workers in other countries. SuzyKnew!’s experience says that’s just not so…

But, like Rite Aid, Walmart did say they would answer any questions we had.  But, I have to jump in and say I saw teen couples struggling to find emergency contraceptives when I was at Rite Aid and too embarrassed to ask (you know SuzyKnew! helped them out!) where as in overseas pharmacies, you just step right up to the counter – including Johannesburg, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (coming soon) and Cotonou, Benin (coming soon) and the pharmacy people tell you like it is.  Not a lot of privacy though, I have to say…

But, South Carolina’s prices were cheaper – at least at Walmart – than they were in Maryland. That could be a function of the pharmacy chain or the south vs. the north.

SuzyKnew!’s next locale: Haiti!

Photo courtesy of queenquet.com

SuzyKnew! Finds High Prices For ‘The Morning After Pill’ And Few Blacks In Zurich

Contraceptives Reproductive Health 1 Comment

SuzyKnew! continues travelling all around the world to see where lovely ladies of color can find emergency contraception also known as ‘The Morning After Pill.’

We’re here at our 4th pharmacy in Zurich, Switzerland located at the train station.  Admittedly, Zurich is not home to bastions of women of color. Wikipedia says in 2013 there were only 84,000 permanent African residents in Switzerland which has a population of around 8 million. Nonetheless, you may find yourself there en route to another country or stopping by to visit a friend as I was. So, it’s good to know.

The Swiss don’t play when it comes to health. When I asked about emergency contraception, the pharmacy lady told me I had to buy the $55 Norlevo and take it right in front of her. She wanted the drug to work. Really? Does she make the white ladies do this, too? We all know Oprah had a hard time here…  But, the pharmacy lady was nice about it – and also seemed real concerned.

For EllaOne, the emergency contraceptive that can be taken up to 5 days of unprotected sex and works better for ladies with a lot of curves, a prescription was required. So,  SuzyKnew! didn’t get the pricing details for this drug – but lots of information on EC.

Compared to the $6 – $7 price of Norlevo in Paris, Zurich is expensive.  Also, the Zurich train station pharmacy only had brand name EC drugs . No generics like in Hyattsville and Lagos. So, plan your encounters carefully in Europe.

See you at the next pharmacy!

Click for SuzyKnew! visits to pharmacies in Hyattsville, Lagos and Paris.

Can A Sista’ Find ‘The Morning After Pill’ In Paris?

Opinion 3 Comments

Paris is a city full of lovely ladies of color.  Blacks and Arabs make up around 20% of France’s population. If you’re visiting or living there, reportedly it’s easy to find ‘The Morning After Pill’ or emergency contraception.

So far, Suzyknew! has been to pharmacies in two cities where lovely ladies of color live. We’ve been to a centrally-located pharmacy in Hyattsville, MD and the pharmacy inside the airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Both pharmacies carried two brands of emergency contraceptives: one brand name and one generic.

In Paris, we visit the pharmacy located inside the Gare de Lyon train station.  Only one brand is available: ellaOne for 19.62 Euro or around $22 – $23. EllaOne, which contains ulipristal acetate unlike Plan B, Norlevo or Postinor II, is more effective in preventing pregnancy in curvy, voluptuous ladies or overweight women. Plus, it’s effective up to five days after unprotected sex unlike progestin-only pills; but, it is a little more expensive, too.

In Paris, the pharmacist was quite helpful, explaining how to take the medicine ensuring it was taken as soon after unprotected sex as possible. In Lagos, the pharmacist was helpful, too, but in Hyattsville, you are on your own unless you specifically ask for help. So, this is our third city and pharmacy and it’s good to know a sista’ in Paris can find emergency contraceptives in a hurry, even if it’s only one brand.

Don’t Let Halloween Night Turn You Into A Pumpkin: How Emergency Contraception Works

Contraceptives Reproductive Health 2 Comments

Boo!

It’s Halloween!

Frankenstein might scare you at first, but, he could go from being your nightmare to the man of your dreams, sweeping you off your feet after midnight. Fear of letting go could give way to fear of  blowing up into a pumpkin and producing little Frankensteins.

SuzyKnew is here to remind you you have up to 5 days to get some emergency contraceptions to prevent this nightmare from happening. But, taking emergency contraception as soon as possible increases the likelihood of it working. Increasingly popular, emergency contraception also called “the morning after pill” is easier to find.

How does it work?

What’s the science behind it?

Here’s one of the most viewed explanations on youtube:

 

Will your morning after Halloween be frightful… or delightful?