University of Saskatchewan medical students advocate for free birth control

A group of medical students at the University of Saskatchewan are calling on the provincial government to fully cover the cost of birth control after British Columbia recently made the move to provide free access to contraception.

“This is something that needs to be implemented here in our province, and we were really inspired by what was done in BC and feel like it’s time to take action here as well,” said medical student Natisha Thakkar.

Thakkar, along with medical student Wardah Mahmood and three others, decided to take matters into their own hands and helped create Universal Access to Contraception Saskatchewan (UACSask), a students group advocating for changes to the system.

The group wants to use the M.C model to have contraception such as pills, implants and IUDS covered by the province’s health plan.

“We think that a wide variety of contraception is really important,” Mahmood said. “This is obviously going to be a long standing discussion to figure out what works best in Saskatchewan and what types of needs we have here.”

The group says cost is one of the biggest barriers to contraceptives. Birth control pills can cost up to $240 a year and IUD’s can be up to $400 upfront.

“There’s lots of differences between short and long-acting forms of contraception, one of them being their efficacy in which long acting has been found to be more efficacious but that comes with a substantial upfront costs for these patients,” Thakkar said.

The group said while access to contraceptives is a universal issue, youth are significantly more impacted as they might not have access to insurance through work or education.

The Sask. NDP called on the government last week to bring in universal access. Saskatchewan health minister, Paul Merriman, said while options are available through social services or health benefits, the government is not looking to make any changes.

“Just because one province is looking at one program doesn’t mean all provinces are going to do that. Maybe that works in British Columbia; we’re satisfied with the programs that we have right now,” Merriman said.

UACSask will be gathering support for their push and will petition the government on April 19th.

“Not only does this coverage have a significant benefit to the patient in terms of financial, emotional and physical cost, but it also has a substantial benefit to the province and health care resources,” Thakkar said.

1:41 Free contraceptives in B.C. begins Saturday