Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (Fifth edition 2015)

Introduction

This document is part of the process for improving the quality of care in family planning. Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (MEC), the first edition of which was published in 1996, presents current World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on the safety of various contraceptive methods for use in the context of specific health conditions and characteristics. This is the fifth edition of the MEC – the latest in the series of periodic updates.

 

In the MEC, the safety of each contraceptive method is determined by several considerations in the context of the medical condition or medically relevant characterstics; primarily, whether the contraceptive method worsens the medical condition or creates additional health risks, and secondarily, whether the medical circumstance makes the contraceptive method less effective. The safety of the method should be weighed along with the benefits of preventing unintended pregnancy. 

This fifth edition of the MEC is divided into two parts. Part I describes how the recommendations were developed and Part II contains the recommendations and describes how to use them. The recommendations contained within this document are based on the latest clinical and epidemiological data. Several tools and job aids are available from WHO and other sources to help providers use these recommendations in practice.

Download: PDF Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (Fifth edition 2015)