Brook' s position on free contraception
Brook believes that contraception should be available free to all who need it. This is one of Brook
Easy access to contraception is key to reducing unwanted pregnancy rates. Charging for contraception would deter many young people from seeking advice and lead to an increase in unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.
Young people need easy access to condoms, either to use alone or with another method of contraception, to protect against sexually transmitted infections.
Background information
Contraception became free on the NHS in 1974. There was an immediate fall in the teenage pregnancy rate and despite subsequent fluctuations rates have never risen above pre 1974 levels.
In the 1997/98 spending review the Government considered and rejected introducing charges for contraception.
A National Opinion Poll survey in 1998 found 98% of people believed it is important to keep contraception free on the NHS.
Expenditure on family planning represents only 0.5% of total health care expenditure.[1]
Dealing with the outcomes of pregnancy, ie births, miscarriages and abortions, costs the NHS substantially more than prevention of unplanned pregnancy through the provision of free contraception.
For every £1 spent on family planning provision, £11 is saved from health and social welfare budgets.[2]
Payment would be a deterrent to use and encourage couples to save money by
A study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute found that in the United States, where many health insurance policies exclude contraception, only four in ten sexually active teenagers use hormonal methods of contraception compared to up to seven in ten in the other study countries where contraception was free or available at extremely low cost.[3]
Charging for contraception disproportionately affects women. It would also place more burden on lower income groups who are at increased risk of unwanted pregnancy.
The provision of contraception to enable people to avoid unwanted pregnancy is a social as well as a health requirement.
[1]A McGuire and D Hughes, The Economics of Family Planning Services. A report prepared for the Contraceptive Alliance, fpa, 1995
[2]A McGuire and D Hughes, ibid, 1995
[3]The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Can More Progress Be Made? Teenage Sexual and Reproductive Behaviour in Developed Countries, www.guttmacher.org, 2001
