From Mr W. B. Rhodes, FRPharmS
SIR,-I must admit to being ambivalent about the proposed supply of emergency hormonal contraceptives from community pharmacies. On the one hand I warmly welcome the implied endorsement of the importance of the pharmacist's role in family planning, which is entirely justified, whereas on the other I would like to see some evidence that this would lead to a reduction in unwanted pregnancies as forecast by Dr Howard Stoate, the chairman of the Parliamentary All-Party Pharmacy Group (PJ, March 4, p354).
When I served on the Health Education Authority in the 1980s, we received reports of staff of local health education units standing at the exits of dances and raves and handing out condoms as that part of the evening's festivities concluded. I never learnt if this reduced unwanted pregnancies or promoted sexual activity, which in turn led on to an increase in pregnancies. But subsequently - and the facts may or may not be related - we went on to have one of the highest rates of abortion, unwanted pregnancies and teenage mothers.
In my view, there is a proper place for EHC, but if we are to venture into the fields of social engineering or morality we should be wary of being seen to be aiding, if not actually promoting, earlier sexual activity as opposed to conjugal felicity out of professional self-interest.
W. Bruce Rhodes
Winchcombe, Gloucestershire