World Sexual Health Day: AccessBC Celebrates BC’s Leadership, Urges Ottawa to Deliver on Pharmacare

Press Release - September 4, 2025

Victoria, B.C. – On World Sexual Health Day, September 4, 2025, the AccessBC Campaign is celebrating the positive impact of British Columbia’s free prescription contraception program, while calling on the federal government to restart stalled negotiations on the national pharmacare plan with jurisdictions that have yet to sign on.

September 4th is World Sexual Health Day, and the theme for this year is ‘sexual justice.’ Sexual justice is achieved when everyone has the resources and power to make free and healthy choices about their bodies, sexuality, and reproduction, and when all people have equal access to sexual health services, including both education, care, and the medicine they need to exercise reproductive autonomy.

As it celebrates progress in BC, AccessBC is marking World Sexual Health Day with a call for federal leadership on pharmacare.

“World Sexual Health Day is an opportunity to celebrate the progress we’ve made, and to recognize that there is still much work to be done,” says Teale Phelps Bondaroff, the Chair and co-founder of AccessBC. “The Liberals promised a national pharmacare plan, but the work is far from finished. By stepping back from pharmacare, the government is undermining reproductive justice, deepening health inequities, and denying people the basic care that we value so much as Canadians.”

Since launching in April 2023, British Columbia’s free prescription contraception program has already had a significant positive impact. According to the BC Ministry of Health, from April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2025, 370,000 British Columbians were able to access prescription contraception free of cost. This included 219,000 hormonal pills, 87,000 emergency contraceptives, 83,000 hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs), 13,000 implants, 13,000 copper IUDs, 12,000 hormonal injections,and 6,000 vaginal rings (from AccessBC correspondence with the BC Minister of Health).

Research from UBC, recently published in the BMJ, found an immediate increase in the use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs, which are IUDs and implants), following the implementation of universal no-cost prescription contraception in BC, with monthly dispensations of LARCs increasing by 49%. They also found that this included 11,365 more people using LARCs than would have been expected without the policy, and an overall 10% increase in prescription contraception use.

“British Columbia’s no-cost prescription contraception program is saving patients on out-of-pocket costs while continuing to work on transforming access to care,” says Dr. Ruth Habte, Obstetrician & Gynaecologist and Campaign Organizer for AccessBC. “In its first 15 months alone, more patients have been able to access prescription contraception, including LARC, showing the impact of eliminating financial barriers on reproductive choice.”

“The most reliable forms of contraception are also the most expensive, and it is little wonder that when we remove cost as a barrier, people are increasingly able to access the most effective contraceptive method for them,” said Jessica L. Jimmo, AccessBC Municipal Outreach Campaign Coordinator & Advocate at a legal clinic that offers free advice to those who experience workplace sexual harassment or sexual assault. “It's as if, when we are empowered to take charge of our own reproductive autonomy, we naturally choose a path that works best for us, and everyone benefits.”

Despite the ongoing success of the program in BC, and evidence demonstrating the benefits of the policy from Ontario and around the world, efforts to see free prescription contraception rolled out across the country have stalled.

Last fall, the national Pharmacare plan was established through the passage of Bill C-64. The first phase of this program was supposed to provide universal coverage for prescription contraception and diabetes medicine and supplies for all Canadians. After adoption, the next step in the process was for Ottawa to negotiate agreements with each of the provinces and territories. However, only four agreements were reached prior to the most recent federal election (Manitoba, BC, PEI, and Yukon), covering only 17% of Canadians.

This summer, the Carney government signaled it was backing away from further negotiations with provinces and territories to finalize pharmacare agreements. Just this week, the Carney government indicated that they intend on waiting to see how the existing agreements pan out before starting new negotiations with outstanding jurisdictions. This has alarmed many advocates and prompted AccessBC to launch its “Pharmacare shouldn't depend on your postal code” letter writing campaign. This campaign urges the Carney government to show leadership and actively pursue fresh pharmacare agreements.

“In British Columbia we've seen how impactful free prescription contraception has been,” said Devon Black, co-founder and national liaison for AccessBC, the campaign that successfully advocated for free prescription contraception in British Columbia. “When so many people are struggling with rising costs and medical expenses, it's frustrating to know that most Canadians are still waiting for the federal government to keep their promise on pharmacare.”

“The lacklustre and vague ‘wait and see’ approach of the Carney government is creating health inequalities across Canada, and is not only policy failure, it’s a betrayal of core Canadian values,” said Phelps Bondaroff. “Pharmacare should not be a privilege determined by your postal code. It must be a program accessible to all Canadians. Without strong federal leadership to negotiate, sign, and fund pharmacare agreements, millions of Canadians will continue to face barriers when trying to access life-saving and life-changing medicine.”

“No-cost prescription contraception is not a luxury – it is a fundamental pillar of reproductive justice,” says Dr. Ruth Habte. “We celebrate British Columbia’s trailblazing leadership and call on Ottawa to build on this success by ensuring pharmacare is truly universal.”