Town in pilot project for 'morning after pill'

BOLTON women will have access to the "morning-after pill"direct from pharmacists before the national scheme is launched thanks to a pilot project over Christmas.

The rate of teenage pregnancies is so high in the town that Bolton and Wigan Health Authority have already set-up a pilot project for free emergency contraception from pharmacists during the Christmas period prior to the national initiative which starts in January 2001.

Bolton pharmacists had reported a high level of demand from young women requesting emergency contraception at weekends and GPs have also backed the scheme which is hoped will prevent hundreds of teenage pregnancies.

The latest figures for Bolton found 52 out of 1000 pregnant women were under the age of 17, while in Warrington this statistic dropped to 40 out of 1000 and in Chester the number was even lower, with 33 out 1000 under-17s becoming pregant.

Director of Service Strategy at Bolton and Wigan Health Authority Brenda O'Driscoll said: "There will be two four-day weekends over Christmas and of course there will be lots of parties and people perhaps might not be as careful about having protected sex.

"We don't want an unfortunate baby bulge later next year and are now running a training programme for pharmacists to give out emergency contraception between Christmas Eve and the end of January when hopefully the national scheme should have kicked-in."

She added: "We do not want to encourage anyone to have unprotected sex, but if they are asking for the "morning after-pill" then they have already had unprotected sex.

"We run a whole long-term campaign working with schools and social services and ideally people should always make serious decisions about sexual and personal relationships. But teenage pregnancy is a problem in Bolton and we wouldn't want any barriers to young women having access to emergency contraception."

Pharmacists will not be asking for proof of age from any women requesting the pill and will be giving out leaflets on how to find out more about long-term contraception methods and details of centres such as Bolton's Lever Chamber clinic which offers contraceptive advice to young women.

The "morning-after pill" can prevent pregnancy within 72 hours of unprotected sex by upsetting hormone balances in the womb to prevent a fertilised egg from implanting itself.

A rota of duty pharmacists will be working over the Christmas and New Year long weekends in Bolton. Anyone wanting to find out their nearest chemist should call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.