Lifting pharmaceutical ban had ‘no effect’ on safe sex
Making the morning after pill available directly from pharmacists has not led to people practising more unsafe sex, according to a new study.
Critics feared that lifting the ban on over-the-counter sales of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) would increase its use and encourage unsafe sex, particularly among teenagers.
However, research by scientists at Imperial College found no significant change in the use of EHC when it was made more readily available, with 8.4 per cent of women using the treatment in 2000, 7.9 per cent in 2001 and 7.2 per cent in 2002.
The proportion of women using more routine methods of contraception, such as the Pill, remained unchanged, as did the proportion using EHC more than once during a year.
Unsurprisingly, there was a shift in where women obtained EHC, with fewer women seeking the morning after pill from their GP or NHS clinic, and a greater proportion buying the treatment over the counter.
