Contraceptive services in most pharmacies

I WRITE in response to your editorial (Irish Examiner, July 27) regarding the call from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) that a study should be carried out to establish the number of pharmacies that do not supply contraceptive services.

As far as the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) is aware, the vast majority of our 1,600 members who are involved in community pharmacy provide a full range of services, including contraception services.

Pharmacists' commitment to the provision of such services is exemplified by our recent successful campaign promoting sexual health. Incidentally, we worked closely with the CPA on this campaign and heard nothing from them about any concerns with regard to the availability of services at that time.