Community pharmacists will also be able to give the morning-after pill to under-16s
Related Stories
Emergency contraception can now be obtained without charge from pharmacies across Wales, while still costing about £25 in the rest of the UK.
Community pharmacists will also be able to give the “morning-after pill” to under-16s, if clinically appropriate – a move that has angered campaigners.
Some GPs have warned about “missed opportunities” to educate young women about sexually transmitted diseases.
Ministers said chemists had a vital role in reducing unwanted pregnancies.
Parts of Wales have some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the UK.
Health minister Edwina Hart announced the move last November, saying she wanted professional advice available without appointment and “easily accessible within the 72-hour time span necessary for emergency contraception to be most effective”.
The morning-after pill is free to women across the UK if it is prescribed by a GP or family planning clinic, but Wales is the first nation to offer emergency contraception without charge on the high street.
“The idea that young girls can just walk into a chemist will mean they become even less responsible about sexuality”
Josephine Quintavalle Comment on Reproductive Ethics
The change will affect 700 pharmacies.
The pill will be allowed to be dispensed to under-16s if pharmacists decide if it is clinically appropriate to dispense it and if the girl requesting the pill understands what she is asking for.
But Josephine Quintavalle, founder of Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core), said it would encourage “irresponsible” attitudes to sex.
She told BBC Wales: “It’s absolutely the wrong way to address the problems of high rates of teenage pregnancy in Wales. The idea that young girls can just walk into a chemist will mean they become even less responsible about sexuality.
“I don’t see how any chemist can stop a 12-year-old taking the morning-after pill, some 12-year-olds do look like 16-year-olds these days.”
Dr Marina Arulanandam, of the Llandaff Surgery in Cardiff, said GPs and family planning clinics had a vital role to play in educating women about a whole range of issues like sexual health, ectopic pregnancies and possible side-effects of taking the medication.
She said: “It’s important young people know the dangers of unprotected intercourse.
“It’s not just pregnancy they should worry about, it’s STDs [sexually transmitted diseases] – these are huge problems we need to be addressing and I don’t think the pharmacies will have enough time to do this.”
“This is an important step forward in preventing unplanned pregnancies and abortions amongst women in Wales”
Janet Pearce Marie Stopes International
Practice nurse Louise Lidbury said she was concerned no universal guidance had been handed out to chemists.
“They should be asking how many times they have used (the pill), things like consent if it’s a young girl and looking at their past medical history.
“They can go to one chemist and then another and there’s no audit trail if they travel from chemist to chemist.
“I’ve had a young girl aged 14 in a relationship with a 19-year-old and she did end up discussing it was not entirely consensual and that was an opportunity for me to discuss with her how she was going to manage that situation.
“That opportunity could have been lost if she was going to get an over-the-counter morning-after pill.”
However, the move has been welcomed by family planning charity Marie Stopes International.
Janet Pearce, a nurse adviser at the charity’s call centre, said: “This is an important step forward in preventing unplanned pregnancies and abortions amongst women in Wales.
“It will be particularly beneficial for low income women and young women who may risk a pregnancy because of the cost associated with the emergency contraceptive pill.”
She added that women often experienced delays when trying to get emergency contraception via their GP or a family planning clinic.
Ian Cowan, chairman of Community Pharmacy Wales, said the service as it already exists made a “massive difference to women’s lives” and was “immensely reassuring to the women who need it”.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the UN’s special representative for Ivory Coast: ”The countdown has started”
There has been heavy fighting in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, between forces loyal to the UN-recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, and supporters of incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.
Witnesses have reported hearing intense gunfire near Mr Gbagbo’s residence, while Mr Ouattara’s supporters say they have taken control of state television.
His government earlier closed Ivory Coast’s borders and declared a curfew.
Mr Gbagbo has refused to relinquish the presidency since November’s election.
But the national army has put up almost no resistance since Mr Ouattara’s supporters launched an offensive on Monday.
Pro-Ouattara forces reportedly now control about 80% of the country.
As the battle for control of the country appeared to reach a climax, gunfire was heard around several strategic buildings in Abidjan.
“[My troops] have come to restore democracy and ensure respect of the vote by the people”
Alassane Outtara
Heavy fighting was reported close to the headquarters of RTI state TV and Mr Gbagbo’s residence, both in the northern district of Cocody.
“The gunfire has been intense and they’re shooting in four or five directions at a time. There’s a lot of people,” a resident told the AFP news agency. “It looks like a final assault.”
A spokesman for Mr Ouattara’s government, Patrick Achi, said the former president had so far shown no signs of giving up.
Mr Gbagbo has not been seen in public for weeks. His residence is mainly protected by members of the elite presidential guard, and is located on a peninsula in Abidjan’s lagoon.
Mr Achi also said Ouattara loyalists had taken control of RTI. This could not be confirmed, but the channel went off-air late on Thursday.
Earlier, Mr Ouattara’s government said Ivory Coast’s land, sea and air borders had been closed until further notice. It also declared that there would be a curfew from 2100 GMT to 0600 GMT in Abidjan until Sunday.
Analysis
Phillippe Mangou’s decision to seek refuge is bad news for Laurent Gbagbo – and certainly for the forces supposed to be defending the incumbent president in Abidjan. He was a known Gbagbo loyalist, but not as hard-line as some of the other generals.
It does now feel like the end of things for Mr Gbagbo. A credible source says the head of the gendarmerie, Edouard Kassarate, has gone over to the Ouattara side, with the military police en masse pledging allegiance to Mr Ouattara.
There are also rumours of people leaving, certainly most of Mr Gbagbo’s supporters have sent their children overseas – and there is talk of unrest at the airport as some people try to flee.
Inside Ivory Coast’s captured capital
And after looting was reported in several parts of the city, UN and French peacekeepers took control of Abidjan’s international airport.
The BBC’s John James in Bouake says growing panic seems to be setting in among Mr Gbagbo supporters, especially following the decision of the head of the army, Gen Phillippe Mangou, to seek refuge with his wife and five children at the home of the South African ambassador.
On Thursday evening, Mr Ouattara’s television channel featured several high-level military officers pledging allegiance to his government. A source also told the BBC that the head of the gendarmerie, Edouard Kassarate, had defected.
The head of the UN mission, Choi Young-jin said that as many as 50,000 soldiers, police and gendarmes had abandoned Mr Gbagbo, with only the Republican Guard and special forces personnel remaining loyal.
“[My troops] have come to restore democracy and ensure respect of the vote by the people,” Mr Ouattara said in an address. “To all those who are still hesitating, whether you are generals, superior officers, officers, sub officers, rank-and-file… there is still time to join your brothers-in-arms.”
Western diplomats say it is only a matter of time now before Mr Gbagbo flees or is captured, our correspondent says.
Mr Ouattara’s government is giving assurances that the outgoing president will not be harmed, he adds. They say, instead, that Mr Gbagbo will be made available to the International Criminal Court.
Earlier, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon again demanded that Mr Gbagbo immediately cede power to Mr Ouattara “to enable the full transition of state institutions to the legitimate authorities”.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, urged both sides to exercise restraint and protect civilians. Both Mr Gbagbo and his wife would be held accountable if significant violence broke out, he added.
Mr Ouattara was internationally recognised as president last year, after the electoral commission declared him winner of the November run-off vote.
The UN, which helped organise the vote, certified it as legitimate. However, Mr Gbagbo claimed victory after the Constitutional Council overturned Mr Ouattara’s win.
The forces supporting Mr Ouattara have made lightning advances since Monday, moving out from their base in the northern half of the country.
On Wednesday, his fighters captured Ivory Coast’s capital, Yamoussoukro, and the key port of San Pedro. Mr Gbagbo’s hometown of Gagnoa also fell.
Since the crisis began in December, one million people have fled the violence – mostly from Abidjan – and at least 473 people have been killed, according to the UN.
Sanctions and a boycott on cocoa exports in what is the world’s biggest producer of cocoa beans have brought West Africa’s second-biggest economy to its knees, with banks closed for more than a month.
An armed rebellion in 2002 split the nation in two – a division the elections were meant to heal.
Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
