SEXUAL HEALTH
for every 62.5 women in the first 24 hours if ulipristal was used rather than levonorgestrel one pregnancy would be avoided. Across Scotland nearly 93,300 supplies of EHC were made during 2013 on that basis replacing levonorgestrel with ulipristal would further reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancy by 734 cases.
Now that ellaOne is available as a P medicine and due to it not featuring on the Sexual Health service pharmacists are being placed in a dilemma. Do they offer choice by offering ellaOne - the most effective treatment to women who may not easily be able to afford the treatment or indeed a pregnancy or does the Scottish Government acquiesce to the recommendation of the Health and Sport committee in 2013 to add ulipristal to the Sexual Health Service.
Support Teenagers to access Services
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on their new Pregnancy and Parenthood in Young People Strategy.4
The strategy recognises
that in Scotland, women can access emergency contraception (EC) from a number of services including community pharmacies, sexual health services and primary care, free of charge.
Evidence suggests that amongst some young people, knowledge about emergency contraception is limited, “there is no information told about the morning after pill, only that it exists”.6
In addition to longer
term methods of contraception, the Scottish Government recognises that young people should be provided with accurate information on where and when emergency contraception can be accessed. Emergency Contraception should be provided in an accessible and consistent way by respectful and non-judgemental staff. Pharmacy has a significant role to play here. How many of you have spoken to guidance staff at your local school to make them aware you provide EHC for free. How many of you have
REFERENCES
1. Nappi et al. The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. 2014; 19(2): 93-101. 2. Wellings K et al. The Lancet 2013; 382(9907): 1807-1816. 3. Emergency contracepion Survey YouGov Plc July 2014 2509 UK women aged 16 to 54 4. Emergency contracepion Survey YouGov Plc July 2014 2509 UK women aged 16 to 54
5. Scottish Government Consultation on the Pregnancy and Parenthood in Young People Strategy available at
http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/07/3144 6. Young Scot (2015) Co-designing the teenage pregnancy and young parents strategy.
discussed service provision with your own staff to ensure enquiries for EHC are handled sensitively and discreetly.
Supply Regular Contraception
The data from the Opinion Matters survey should give pharmacy confidence to lobby for an extension to its current role of sign-posting for regular contraception. With 93,000 supplies in Scotland for emergency contraception per annum it is clear women feel confident to consult with pharmacists as a profession for emergency contraception so why would that be different for regular contraception.
When women present for emergency contraception significant numbers present with method failure e.g. condom misuse. It would therefore be beneficial for pharmacists to be able to supply an alternative method so that repeat use of emergency contraception can be avoided.
Is it time for us to extend our role into providing methods of regular contraception when women present for emergency contraception. Pharmacists on the Isle of Wight now supply the progesterone only pill to support access to ongoing contraception. With training and access to a PGD pharmacists in Scotland are ideally placed to provide a similar service.
NEXT STEPS As a profession we should be ensuing we can maximise service delivery to all patient groups e.g. teenagers, we should also be lobbying to have access to the most effective emergency contraception, ulipristal into our national scheme. The would support maintenance of the downward trend of teenage and unwanted pregnancy in Scotland.
We should also embrace opportunities from public feedback that they would welcome pharmacists to play a greater role in contraception services going forward. •
For the first time in 25 years an all- female team has taken line honors in the world’s toughest ocean race.
UK sailors Annie Lush, Sam Davies, Dee Caffari, Libby Greenhalgh and Abby Ehler are five of the 11-woman international Team SCA crew who secured their win between Lisbon, Portugal and Lorient, France, in leg eight of the Volvo Ocean Race.
This victory, which has followed Team SCA battling male teams to steadily improve their on-water performance, saw the inspirational team leading in pole position throughout the 647-mile race to comfortably cross the finish line ahead of six all-male competitor crews.
Team SCA is only the fifth all-female team to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race, and the first to do so in 12 years. The culmination of more than
two years of hard work has also seen Team SCA secure a podium finish in the technical in-port portion of the race after placing second in Gothenburg.
Sally Barker, UK and Ireland Managing Director of SCA, reflects on this impressive win and why the company decided to partner with the all-female crew, “SCA chose to support an all-female team because globally about 80% of the retail products SCA makes are purchased by women. This gives SCA a natural interest in the field of hygiene and the empowerment of women and their freedom to participate fully in society – socially, educationally and professionally.
“SCA are incredibly grateful to be involved in such an exceptional project which has enabled us to raise awareness of key women’s hygiene issues on a global scale.”
SCOTTISH PHARMACIST - 41
MSD UK launches SIVEXTRO
MSD has announced the availability in the UK of Sivextro® (tedizolid phosphate) for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) in adults. Available in both intravenous (I.V.) and oral formulations, it is the first new treatment in the oxazolidinone class of antibiotics since 2001. Tedizolid phosphate is another option in the fight against the growing challenge of global antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Cases of skin infections caused by MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) in the community and MSSA (methicillin- sensitive staphylococcus aureus) are rising in the UK with up to 25% of
MRSA infections being resistant to treatment. Recent research from the Department of Health notes that AMR costs the European Union (EU) at least €1.5 billion per year and claims an estimated 25,000 lives every year – an estimated 3,000 deaths in the UK.
Derek Butler, Chair, MRSA Action UK, said, “I hope that this will be the start of things to come. We need pharmaceutical companies, governments, those providing healthcare and the public to all play their part in using these new treatments wisely. However, there is still a way to go to bring about the change in a culture that has relied too heavily on these golden bullets.”
SCA crew wins Volvo Ocean Race victory
NEWS
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