Pharmacists have called for an end to the practice whereby women with medical cards who wish to obtain the morning after pill free of charge have to attend their GP for a prescription first.

The emergency hormonal contraceptive, Norlevo (levonorgestrel), has been available to women in pharmacies without a prescription since 2011. Prior to this, all women had to attend a doctor and obtain a prescription first.

However, if women with a medical card want to obtain the drug free of charge, they still have to attend their GP for a prescription, a policy described as ‘farcical, discriminatory and unacceptable'.

"The effectiveness of emergency contraception diminishes between the time of unprotected sex and the time of taking it, which emphasises the need for the convenience and accessibility of being able to get it directly from a community pharmacist.

"It is unacceptable that a medicine, which is known to be most effective within a 24-hour period, cannot be accessed immediately free of charge by women with a medical card," commented Kathy Maher, president of the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU).

She insisted that this delay in accessing treatment for medical card patients is a major concern, given ‘the potentially far-reaching and life-changing consequences of an unplanned pregnancy'.

"This situation discriminates against women with a medical card over private female patients and needs to be changed as soon as possible," she said.

Almost eight in 10 pharmacy consultations for the morning after pill take place within 24 hours of unprotected sex, and almost one in four women who avail of this service in pharmacies have medical cards.

This issue was raised at the IPU's national conference at the weekend, where pharmacists passed a motion calling on the HSE to put a mechanism in place ‘to make emergency hormonal contraception available to women with medical cards directly from the community pharmacy'.

The conference took place in Killarney, Kerry.