Achieving universal access to contraception would save and improve millions of lives, and put societies on a faster track to shared prosperity. The world should be devoting far more attention and resources to this goal, writes Bjørn Lomborg.

The Irish Pharmacy Union is proposing a scheme by which women could access contraception directly from their community pharmacist without a prescription and without charge.

Allowing women to access contraception from their pharmacist without a prescription would “dramatically improve access to essential healthcare for thousands of women”, Ireland's main pharmacy union has said.

It follows the establishment of a working group on the matter earlier this year that was set up on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment.

The way women have been advised to take the combined contraceptive pill for the last 60 years unnecessarily increases the likelihood of taking it incorrectly, leaving them at risk from unplanned pregnancy, writes Susan Walker.

Irish women are being told that there is no need to take a monthly break from the Pill.

The condom maker Durex is in brand crisis mode after it was forced to issue a recall of some of its products over fears they could split. Durex is not the first company to suffer from high profile product recalls.

Health Minister Simon Harris says religion "will not determine health and social policy" in Ireland any more.

The recall concerns batches with expiry dates between December 2020 and February 2021.

During the repeal campaign, the Government promised to consider introducing free contraception. But avoiding pregnancy is a far more complex issue, says Áilín Quinlan.

Latest: The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has called on the Government to make contraception available from a community pharmacy without prescription and without charge, regardless of eligibility.

The National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) says the Irish Pharmacy Union's contraceptive proposal is flawed.

The Government will introduce a free contraception system after the referendum on the Eighth Amendment in a bid to revolutionise Ireland’s sex education and sexual health regime.

Natural Cycles is the first app certified as a form of birth control. Is it effective, asks Sharon Ní Chonchúir

A federal judge in Philadelphia has ordered the Trump administration not to enforce new rules that could significantly reduce women's access to free birth control.

Women who have experienced depression shouldn't be prescribed the contraceptive pill according to a Danish expert.

A 'Scholars’ Statement' signed by leading Catholic academics calls for change in the Church's rules on contraception - but it has been rejected by a leading Catholic teacher here.

The number of medical card holders taking oral contraceptives has more than doubled since 2009, according to the HSE.

1968’s ‘Humane Vitae’ has done massive harm to the Catholic Church and has been largely ignored by many, writes TP O’Mahony

A satirical musical based on the ‘contraception train’ of 1971 takes a lighthearted look at an era of great change in Ireland, writes Padraic Killeen.

An estimated 200,000 cases of womb cancer have been prevented in the last decade by women taking the Pill, say scientists.

Ireland has one of the lowest rates of contraceptive use in the EU while births to teenage mothers remain among the highest. 

One in three Irish women do not use any form of contraception and almost one in 10 rely on natural methods.