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The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidance expanding contraceptive options for women and girls, including recommending mifepristone as an additional emergency contraception option and supporting longer use of some existing contraceptive methods.
The new WHO Guidelines on Expanding Contraceptive Options, published on September 23, 2026, provide evidence-based recommendations on contraceptive methods and practices not previously included in WHO guidance or that differ from existing recommendations.
The guidance comes as an estimated 164 million women who want to delay or avoid pregnancy are not using contraception, according to WHO. The organisation said expanding the range of available methods can give women greater choice over whether to use contraception, which method to use, and when to change or stop using it.
One of the new recommendations concerns mifepristone, which WHO now recommends as an additional option for emergency contraception. The organisation says mifepristone should be taken as soon as possible, and within five days of unprotected sex, at doses between 10 and 50 mg. WHO says available evidence indicates that mifepristone is likely to be as safe and effective as other established emergency contraceptive methods. The recommendation adds another option for women who need emergency contraception after unprotected sex, alongside other methods already available.
WHO has also recommended changes to how some existing contraceptives can be used. Combined oral contraceptive pills can now be used continuously for up to one year or for extended periods of up to six months, offering alternatives to the conventional cyclical pattern of use. WHO also supports extending the use of the etonogestrel-releasing contraceptive implant to five years. The organisation says longer use could reduce the number of replacement procedures and clinic visits required by users, as well as associated costs. The guideline also addresses contraceptive methods for which the available evidence remains insufficient.
WHO is also calling for further research into ormeloxifene before it can be considered for inclusion in national family planning programmes, because evidence on its safety remains limited. It also recommends against adding quinestrol-containing contraceptive pills to national contraceptive programmes because of limited evidence and reports of serious adverse events.
According to Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, expanding contraceptive access is also about whether women have meaningful control over their reproductive decisions and that real choice involves being able to choose a method, change it or stop using it.
“Choice is a gender equality issue, and contraception is not one size fits all.”
The new recommendations are intended to help countries consider whether to incorporate the methods and practices into national contraceptive programmes and clinical guidelines. The WHO guideline itself does not mean that every method will immediately become available in every country; implementation will depend on national policies, programmes and regulatory processes.
WHO is also working on the development of additional reversible contraceptive methods that could eventually be used by men, but those products are still being researched and are not part of the new recommendations for women and girls.
The immediate change for women and girls is the expansion of evidence-backed options, an additional emergency contraception method, longer possible use of some contraceptives, and more flexibility in how some existing methods can be used.
