"Following nine years of deliberation," Japan's Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council "gave the thumb's up Wednesday to limited sales of birth control pills," making Japan "the last country among all United Nations member countries to authorize" use of the low-hormone-dosage oral contraceptive developed 40 years ago (Asahi Shimbun, 3 Jun).
     The Minister of Health "is expected to approve the drug by the end of June," and physicians "should be able to begin prescribing the pill as early as this autumn, ministry officials said" (Alexandra Harney, Financial Times, 3 Jun).
     The Washington Post notes that Japan's government was pressured to approve the pill after swift approval was granted last year for the anti-impotence drug Viagra. One Japanese women's rights advocate said: "Viagra's approval showed clearly that what the Health Ministry is doing is so incoherent; women in Japan have been unable to plantheir lives because they haven't had control over childbirth. Who takes responsibility for the 1,000 abortions in Japan every day, or for the desperate women with unwanted pregnancies?" (Kevin Sullivan, 3 Jun).

Approval Is One Thing, But Access Is The Real Issue
     Dr. Tomoko Saotome of the Professional Women's Coalition for Sexuality and Health, "noted concerns that some doctors may advise patients against taking the pill and some clinics may not dispense it because of ideological opposition" (Sonni Efron, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jun).
     Family Planning Federation of Japan's Yuriko Ashino noted that health insurance won't cover the oral contraceptive, putting the financial burden on women. She also said women may be dissuaded from using the pill because it is "uncommon" for Japanese women to visit doctors for birth control (Takahashi/Negishi, Japan Times, 2 Jun).
     One Japanese midwife warned that availability of the pill might lead to women being held more responsible for contraception. She emphasized the women must "have an equal relationship, under which they can ask men to (also) use condoms" (Asahi Shimbun).
     The Wall Street Journal reports: "One factor that could spur sales of the pill is that the rate of unplanned births in Japan is twice that of the US and about the same as Botswana, said a spokeswoman at the Alan Guttmacher Institute." Only about 64% of Japanese women "use some form of contraception compared with 90% in the US. ... Abortion rates are said to be high in Japan, but statistics are incomplete" (Ono/Tanouye,Wall Street Journal, 3 Jun).
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