Morning after pill is slashed to £4.99 – and you can now buy it online for the first time in the UK
AN ONLINE pharmacy has announced it will sell the morning after pill for £4.99 – a fraction of the £14 it currently costs in stores.
It is the first time the pill will be available online in the UK.
Chemist-4-U is now offering an “advanced supply” of Levonelle, a generic version of the emergency contraception.
Women can order one pack per order to be stored at home and are required to fill out an online medical questionnaire when they make a purchase.
But they will not be able to order more than three packs in six months.
Currently the morning after pill sold in high street stores is sold one at a time.
Women can buy the drugs following a short consultation with a pharmacist in store or by completing an online form, which is reviewed by a medic.
Emergency contraception is also available for free from GPs or sexual health clinics.
Shamir Patel, director and pharmacist with Chemist-4-U, said he “firmly believes” in offering emergency contraception at an affordable price.
He said: "We believe healthcare should be affordable, and the morning after pill is not an expensive product to produce.
"To avoid the online ordering facility being abused, there are essential checks and balances in place.
"It flags up in our system if anyone attempts to buy more than three in a six-month period.
"We then take measures to prevent this repeat purchasing."
The move comes as high street pharmacies Boots and Superdrug announced they would slash the cost of their generic versions of the pill following backlash from campaigners who said prices were “discriminatory.”
Boots has cut the cost of its version from £26 to £15.99 and Superdrug from £27 to £13.49.
The pill can also be bought in Tesco for £13.50.
A spokesperson for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said: “We see women at our clinics who are facing an unplanned pregnancy because they were unable to afford emergency contraception when they needed it.
“We have also heard from women who have gone through immense difficulty, skipped meals or had to borrow money from family members, in order to pay the historically high price-tag for emergency contraception.
“Pharmacies are doing the right thing for women and their wellbeing by reducing the price, and we absolutely commend their commitment.”
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BPAS wrote to high street retailers last year asking them to slash prices to bring them into line with Europe.
Boots started a sexism row after it initially refused to lower the price of its morning after pill because it believed it would encourage women to “abuse” it.
The pharmacy refused to budge saying it may lead to claims they were “incentivising inappropriate use".
But they later retracted the statement and dropped the price.
Boots bosses said their new pricing reflects “the cost of the medicine and the regulated mandatory consultation with the pharmacist”.
The pill is taken to prevent an unwanted pregnancy within 72 hours of unprotected sex or when regular contraception has failed.
Women are, in some cases, able to get the morning after pill for free on the NHS, or from a family planning clinic.
Chemist-4-U says its advanced supply is designed to be kept in the cupboard for an emergency situation.
Mr Patel added: “We always advise women in an emergency situation to go to their nearest pharmacy that day, rather than waiting a day to receive it from an online pharmacy.
“However our belief is an advanced supply from us avoids the panic in the unlikely event of barrier method failure.
“We advise all patients that the pill should not be used as a regular contraceptive method.”
Natika Halil, chief executive of sexual health charity FPA, welcomed the move.
She said: "Emergency contraception is an important part of reproductive healthcare.
"Offering women the option of advance emergency contraceptive pills means that they already have them when they need them, but it's also important that women are aware of the three different types of emergency contraception available so they are able to use the one that's best for them and their particular circumstances."
The other two types of emergency contraception available include the IUD, which can be used up to five days after unprotected sex.
The IUD is inserted into the uterus to prevent a fertilised egg from implanting in the wall of the womb.
The second is an emergency pill containing ulipristal acetate, which can be up to five days later and is more effective than Levonelle.
But pro-life groups have criticised the move.
Dr Anthony McCarthy, from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: "This is very alarming news. Making the morning after pill available online, even more than making it available in pharmacies, risks women's health for commercial gain.
"We know that with morning after pill use abortion rates do not go down overall but sexually transmitted infections increase due to more sexual risk-taking.
"Will women be made aware of the risks to them and possible risks to their embryos?"
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