Consider supplying EHC in advance, says Society
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Pharmacists should consider clinical appropriateness of advance
supplies of emergency contraception |
Pharmacists can supply emergency hormonal contraception in advance but they must consider the clinical appropriateness of a supply when faced with a request, says the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
The Society released its updated advice this week following recent news
reports that BPAS (formerly the British Pregnancy Advisory Service) and
Marie Stopes International support the advance supply of EHC (PDF 70K).
The Society is not against the advance supply of EHC in principle, it
says. However, it recommends that pharmacists should decline repeated
requests for advance supply and advise customers to use more reliable
methods of contraception.
If selling EHC in advance, pharmacists should provide reminders to ensure
that any prospective use of EHC is safe, effective and appropriate. For
example, the customer should be advised to read the information leaflet
before taking the product to ensure that it is still suitable for them.
Women should also be reminded that the efficacy of EHC decreases over
time and that it is only effective if taken within 72 hours of intercourse,
that intra-uterine devices can be fitted up to 120 hours after unprotected
sex
or within five days of
expected ovulation, and that EHC cannot be used if they are already pregnant.
Last week BPAS urged women to keep EHC at home in case they risk pregnancy.
It said that the price of EHC from pharmacies can be prohibitive for
poorer women and announced that women can obtain advance EHC from 17
BPAS clinics around England, without an appointment, for £10.
The advance prescribing of EHC is supported by the Faculty of Family
Planning and Reproductive Health Care and the Royal College of Obstetricians
and Gynaecologists. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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