Boots has now reduced the price of the morning after pill across all of its stores in line with other major pharmacies in the UK.
The move comes a year after the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) launched a campaign urging pharmacies to reduce the cost of emergency contraception.
Superdrug, Tesco and other major pharmacies began offering a generic version of the morning after pill at the reduced price of around £13.50 in June. Prior to this, only versions costing £24.99 or more were available to buy over the counter at most chemists.
Boots provoked anger in July after refusing to reduce the price of emergency contraception, adding that it would not want to be accused of “incentivising inappropriate use”. The retailer apologised and pledged to look at sourcing less expensive emergency contraception.
Now available for £15.99
Boots continued to sell its own generic version for £26.75 while selling a version of the morning after pill for £15.99 in a small number of its 2,400 stories.
All stores will now sell a version of the morning after pill for £15.99, three months after its target date for the full UK roll-out.
A sustainable supply
A spokesperson for Boots said: “It was always our intention to ensure that when we launched this service it was done well, and with sufficient, sustainable supply so that women would be able to access it both now and in the future.
“Boots wants to see a service that is free at the point of care to all women, and believes that there should be one nationally commissioned NHS Service across pharmacies in England as it is already in Scotland and Wales. We would like to continue to call on NHS England to review their plans in this regard.”
A Bpas spokesperson said the charity is “delighted” by the move, adding: “This is good news for women.”
Still twice the price than other countries in Europe
However, Bpas said emergency contraception is still markedly more expensive than in European countries such as France, where the morning after pill is available to buy for around £6.
“We believe the mandatory consultation women must undergo, for which there is no clinical justification, remains a key barrier to women accessing this extremely safe medication and is often one of the reasons given for the price remaining comparatively high.
“We will continue our campaign to ensure women’s access to emergency contraception – which gives them a second chance of avoiding an unwanted pregnancy – is as swift and affordable as possible.”
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