Improve access to contraception services for young people
Contraception services need to be specifically targeted at young
people |
Pharmacists need to consider what more they can do to improve access to contraception services for young people, according to Karen O’Brien, chronic disease and medicine management lead, Central Manchester Primary Care Trust, and joint founder project manager of the Manchester, Salford and Trafford emergency hormonal contraception scheme.
“As pharmacists we need to look at how we can encourage young people
to access contraception services through community pharmacies and how
we
can make the service more holistic,” she said.
Her comments come in response to Office of National Statistics data (PDF 980K) showing that conceptions in under-16-year-olds have increased;
the estimated number of conceptions in girls under 16 years rose from
7,875
in 2002
to 8,076 in 2003. However, the conception rate for women aged 15–19
years fell by 1 per cent in the same period.
“It would be interesting to see if there is a difference between areas
in which EHC is available free of charge and those in which it is not — I
would have expected a higher rate had we not had the EHC scheme,” Mrs O’Brien
said. “Contraception services need to be more specifically targeted at
young people,” she added. “We currently give advice on the risk of
sexually transmitted infections and failure rates but we need to look at how
we can go further.” |
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