Why Japan has lifted the ban on OTC morning-after pill for the first time

Japan’s health ministry has for the first time given the go-ahead for a morning-after pill to be sold over-the-counter (OTC) without a prescription. ASKA Pharmaceutical said it has obtained permission to sell its OTC pill Norlevo and that wider access to the pill will ‘empower Japanese women in the area of reproductive health’. But why has Japan made the move now?

Explainers