OREANDA-NEWS  In nine months, oral contraceptives (pills to prevent unwanted pregnancy) were sold in Russia for more than 20.7 billion rubles. The indicator has become the highest since the beginning of statistics in 2017, the calculations of the DSM Group "Vedomosti".

Sales for the same period in 2022 are estimated at 19.7 billion rubles (plus 5 percent), in 2021 — at 15.3 billion (plus 35 percent). The trend is also confirmed by the profile analytical company RNC Pharma. According to her, from January to September 2023, the increase in monetary terms amounted to 21 percent and 23.5 percent in physical terms.

Representatives of the pharmaceutical market also noted a sharp increase in sales of contraceptives in the country. The dynamics of three percent for the year were recorded in the federal pharmacy chain "36.6" and "Pharmacy 25". The DSM Group emphasizes that over the same period, sales of misoprostol, a drug for artificial termination of pregnancy, fell by 50 percent in nine months, to 6 billion rubles in annual terms.

Experts agree that the trend was formed due to restrictions on the release of funds for emergency termination of pregnancy. The document will come into force on September 1, 2024, but due to mass media reports on this topic, consumers could not pay attention to the fact that the requirement will be relevant only in a year, and they began to switch to other drugs now, according to Pharmacy 25. Doctors also add that drugs from the group of oral contraceptives are prescribed in the complex treatment of various diseases, for example, with uterine fibroids or acne.

In 2022, the demand for drugs for termination of pregnancy in Russia has increased record — an increase of 50-60 percent at once. According to experts, this dynamic is associated with women's doubts about whether it is necessary to have children in the current political situation.