Background Oral contraceptive pills are medicinal products containing various types of synthetic hormones with a role in preventing pregnancy.

Purpose To evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of pharmacists from community pharmacies regarding oral contraceptives (OC) and emergency contraceptive pills (ECP).

Materials and methods Interviews were carried out based on questionnaires sent to 42 pharmacists from community pharmacies in Craiova city, Romania during the period March–May 2013.

Results All the pharmacists included in the study had sold at least once ECP or OC. 23 (54.76%) knew exactly the active substances contained in ECP or OC, the mode of the action and the pharmacotherapeutic management, side effects and interactions with other drugs; and 7 (16.66%) could not explain the mechanism of the action. 21 (50%) of these have indicated that repeated use for a long time involves health risks. 19 (45.23%) considered that ECP and OC should not be used by teenagers under 18 years old and 15 (35.71%) would not recommend this type of drugs to the women over 40 years old who were approaching the menopause. 16 (38%) believed that the ECP should be used only a few times. 40 (95.23%) agreed with the display of advertising materials with additional information about OC or ECP.

Conclusions The results suggest the need for an improvement in the pharmacist’s knowledge about the positive pharmacological effects of OC and ECP. Displaying information related to OC and ECP is useful in pharmacies, thus increasing pharmacists’ and consumers’ knowledge of OC and ECP.

No conflict of interest.