Pharmacists: Early access to morning after pill 'very important'
Pharmacists are calling for vaccination services to be extended to include pneumonia, Hepatitis B, travel vaccines and cervical cancer.
The call comes as the Irish Pharmacy Union holds its national Pharmacy Conference in Maynooth, Co. Kildare, this weekend.
They are calling on the Minister for Health James Reilly to extend the role of pharmacists.
The latest statistics on emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) will also be revealed at the conference.
President of the IPU Rory O'Donnell, insisted the pharmacy is the ideal place for women to obtain the morning after pill.
Mr O'Donnell said: "From our research we have discovered that 78% of consultations with pharmacists on EHC actually take place within the first 24 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse, and 33% take place within 12 hours.
"So it is early intervention, early access which is a very important thing, particularly with EHC, the earlier you take the morning after pill, the more successful that it is."
