When the morning-after pill went on sale in the UK in 2001, having previously only been available on prescription, its high price – around £30 – was a deliberate deterrent against regular use. It was, says Clare Murphy, director of external affairs for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), “absolutely absurd, and I think it’s shocking that that framework has been accepted for so long. I find the idea of deterring women from using a product they need appalling.”
The morning-after pill – so-called because it prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex – is now available for £3 from the online pharmacy Dr Fox, highlighting how expensive it still is at high-street pharmacists, despite campaigns by BPAS and others to get the price lowered.
It is usually available, either as the brand name Levonelle or a generic drug, for between £13 and £16. “We know this is a very cheap product to produce and women are still paying massively over the odds for it,” says Murphy. “One of the justifications for the continued high prices is there is this prerequisite for a consultation [with a pharmacist]. Women don’t need to have that interaction. Elsewhere – in the US, Canada, other places in Europe – this is a product that is available on the shelf to buy without a consultation and that is what we would like to see here.”
This would also reduce the stigma that still surrounds emergency contraception, she says. “It’s seen as a product for the reckless and feckless, rather than being a normal product that people use in a responsible way after something has not worked out as planned.” Some pharmacists have even refused to sell it on religious grounds; in the years after it was introduced by high-street chemists, anti-abortion groups, likening it – falsely – to an abortion pill, tried to stop its sale
“Emergency contraception services have been available free through pharmacies in Scotland and Wales for some time and we would like to see that replicated across the whole of the country so women get better access, regardless of their ability to pay,” says Sandra Gidley, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. In some areas of England this service is offered. “Cost is a barrier to access to medicines, and for that reason we would like to see all community pharmacies in England able to supply emergency contraception free through the NHS.” This would still require a consultation with a pharmacist.
A spokesperson for the National Pharmacy Association said it was “important to compare like with like and recognise that a face-to-face consultation with a pharmacist in your local pharmacy provides a greater level of support and safeguarding for girls and women.” The consultation covers “side-effects, appropriate dosage and guidance about regular methods of contraception”.
While Murphy is pleased to see the £3 pill available, she says not everyone will stock up and keep it in their bathroom cabinet. “We want to see an affordable, accessible on-the-shelf product so it’s there when women need it.”
