# Emergency contraception - Category: chronic - Review status: reviewed (every claim checked against a document named on this page) - Sources: FSRH Guideline Emergency Contraception 2020 · WHO Emergency Contraception Factsheet 2021 · Emergency contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception-full.txt) - Verified date: 2026-08 ## Verified against - WHO Emergency Contraception Factsheet 2021 - FSRH Guideline Emergency Contraception 2020 - Postcoital Contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception-clinical.txt) - Emergency contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception-full.txt) ## Treatment metadata - Levonorgestrel — 1.5 mg — oral.solid - Ulipristal acetate — 30 mg — oral.solid - Referral & safety-netting (no drug therapy) - Copper(intrauterine device, Cu-IUD) — vaginal ## Complete treatment card ```text EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION Sources: FSRH Guideline Emergency Contraception 2020 · WHO Emergency Contraception Factsheet 2021 · Emergency contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception-full.txt) Review status: REVIEWED against WHO Emergency Contraception Factsheet 2021, FSRH Guideline Emergency Contraception 2020, Postcoital Contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception-clinical.txt), Emergency contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency- contraception-full.txt) (2026-08) Rx: Main treatment | Copper intrauterine device (Cu-IUD) - fitted, not swallowed MAIN TREATMENT - choose one 1. LEVONORGESTREL [1st line] Adult 1.5 mg as a single oral dose taken as soon as possible within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse - single dose Peds Adolescents: 1.5 mg single oral dose as soon as possible within 72 hours Choice Alternatives. Levonorgestrel is available over the counter in Egypt at 5-40 EGP; ulipristal costs more and is harder to obtain inside the window that matters. Source WHO Emergency Contraception Factsheet 2021 Why Top priority oral emergency contraceptive available OTC on the Egyptian market Caution Efficacy declines with time; most effective within 24 hours (up to 72 hours max). A double dose (3 mg single dose) is recommended if BMI > 26 kg/m2 or the patient is taking enzyme-inducing drugs (e.g. carbamazepine, rifampicin). If vomiting occurs within 3 hours of taking tablet, take another 1.5 mg dose immediately. Does NOT protect against STIs or terminate an established pregnancy. If weight >70 kg or BMI >26 kg/m2, double dose to 3 mg (two 1.5 mg tablets) as single dose within 72 hours. Egypt LEVONANDIX 0.03MG 35 F.C.TABS. TECHNOPHARMA 10.00 EGP (0.29/unit) -> ? strength differs POSTINOR-2 0.75MG 4 TAB. GODEON RICHTE... 5.40 EGP (1.35/unit) -> ? strength differs CONTRAPLAN II 0.75 MG 4 TABS. SAFE PHARMA >... 40.00 EGP (10.00/unit) -> ? strength differs LACTEVENOR 0.03MG 35 COATED TAB. ACDIMA INTERN... 25.00 EGP [? strength differs] MICROLUT 0.03MG 35 COATED TABS. BAYER SCHERIN... 36.00 EGP [? strength differs] 2. ULIPRISTAL ACETATE [1st line] Adult 30 mg as a single oral dose taken as soon as possible within 120 hours (5 days) of unprotected sexual intercourse - single dose Peds Adolescents: 30 mg single oral dose within 120 hours Source FSRH Guideline Emergency Contraception 2020 Why Selective progesterone receptor modulator with superior efficacy to levonorgestrel up to 120 hours (5 days) Caution If vomiting occurs within 3 hours of taking tablet, take a replacement 30 mg dose. Avoid starting progestin-containing hormonal contraceptives for 5 days after taking ulipristal (they interfere with each other). Contraindicated in severe asthma uncontrolled by oral steroids. Egypt GESPRITAL 30 MG 1 TABLET HI-PHARM > AT... 45.00 EGP (45.00/unit) NORPREGNA 30 MG 2 TABS. TECHNOPHARM >... 90.00 EGP (45.00/unit) 3. REFERRAL & SAFETY-NETTING (NO DRUG THERAPY) [1st line] Adult Source Postcoital Contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception- clinical.txt) Why Carries the referral criteria and warning signs for this condition, which apply whichever treatment is chosen. Caution RED FLAG - Both levonorgestrel and ulipristal acetate have reduced efficacy in patients on enzyme-inducing drugs (rifampicin, phenytoin, carbamazepine, St John's wort, etc.) - Cu-IUD should be used instead in this group. RED FLAG - Follow-up/referral criterion: women should return for clinical evaluation if their period is delayed more than 7 days, or if they have lower abdominal pain or persistent irregular bleeding, to exclude ectopic pregnancy or pregnancy loss. COPPER INTRAUTERINE DEVICE (CU-IUD) - FITTED, NOT SWALLOWED 4. COPPER(INTRAUTERINE DEVICE, CU-IUD) [1st line] Adult One copper intrauterine device, inserted by a trained provider. There is no milligram dose - the device itself is the treatment. The article rates the copper IUD the most effective method available, with long-term contraception as an advantage on top, and grades that as Level A evidence, good and consistent. - Insert within 5 days of unprotected intercourse; it may then be left in place as ongoing contraception for up to 10 years Peds No paediatric weight dosing applies - this is a device. The article recommends it in adolescents who want long-term contraception. Source Emergency contraception - disease-level clinical article (emergency-contraception- full.txt) Why The card offered only the two oral options and the article makes this the most effective of all of them - it prevents pregnancy in 99% of cases against 70% for levonorgestrel and 85% for ulipristal, and its efficacy does not fall with time or with body weight. It is a device, so it carries no dose; the physician approved zero-dose and zero-brand rows on 2026-08-16 (croup oxygen), and this one is not even zero-brand - nine copper IUDs are registered in Egypt, from 7.50 EGP. The generic is written as the register writes it (COPPER), and the role says what the product actually is. Caution Intrauterine, not intravaginal. The form is recorded as vaginal because that is the route the Egyptian register files it under and it is what finds the product; the device is fitted into the uterine cavity by someone trained to do it. CONTRAINDICATED - the copper IUD must NOT be used where the woman is pregnant, where there is pelvic infection, where the periods are already heavy, or in Wilson disease. (Postcoital Contraception - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf, NBK559157) It needs an examination and a test the tablets do not: a pregnancy test, and a bimanual examination, are required before a copper IUD goes in - and only before that one, not before the oral options. (Postcoital Contraception - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf, NBK559157) When to prefer it - the copper IUD, and ulipristal acetate with it, work no less well as the hours pass, so where the woman comes late after unprotected sex both should be considered first. (Postcoital Contraception - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf, NBK559157) It is also the option unaffected by body weight and by enzyme-inducing drugs. The window - up to 5 days after unprotected sex, a woman asking for emergency contraception should be able to have any of them: ulipristal acetate, the combined oestrogen-and-progestogen pills, or the copper IUD. WHO goes wider on the coil, backing insertion as far out as 12 days, provided a pregnancy test taken at the time comes back negative. What it commits the patient to - a copper IUD means an urgent appointment inside the window to have it fitted, and it carries a risk of perforation put at 1 in 1000, along with cramping of the uterus and, for some women, heavier periods afterwards. (Postcoital Contraception - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf, NBK559157) It keeps working afterwards - no other method matches it for effectiveness, and once in, it goes on providing contraception for as long as 10 years from insertion. (Postcoital Contraception - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf, NBK559157) That is an advantage the tablets do not have, and a conversation to have at the same visit. This is a procedure, not a prescription - it needs a trained inserter and an appointment inside the window, which is the practical reason it is the least used of the three. Egypt EGY-T MODEL CU T 380A IUD AMECO MEDICAL... 7.50 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal ENOVA CU T 380A INTRAUTERINE DEVICE FAMY CARE LTD. > ACDIMA INTERNATIONA... 15.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal PREGNA MODEL T CU 380A IUD PREGNA INTERN... 18.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal U-KARE CU 375 IUD PREGNA INTERN... 18.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal MONA LISA CU 375 INTRAUTERINE DEVICE MONA LISA N.V-BELGIUM > MEDTEC IN... 38.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal SILVERLINE CU 380 AG INTRAUTERINE DEVICE PREGNA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED-IN... 57.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal NOVA T CU200 AG I.U.D BAYER > BAYER... 120.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal NOVA T CU380 AG I.U.D BAYER > BAYER... 308.00 EGP -> ? different route - not vaginal Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy. ``` --- Dawaa Reference is a reference for prescribers, not a medical device, and does not replace clinical judgement. 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