THE head of South Africa’s Medicines Control Council has announced that the abortion pill will be available in the country by the middle of 2000. Helen Rees said research into the use of non-surgical abortions in the public health system is to begin in January. Pilot programmes in urban and rural areas will be conducted to gauge the effectiveness of the pill, she added. France was the first country to introduce the abortion pill, known there as the RU-486. The pill is usually effective until nine weeks after conception.