Pharmacists urged to sell EC to adolescent girls

THE Health ministry has come hard on pharmacists that deny adolescent girls access to Emergency Contraception (EC), known as the morning-after pill, as teenage pregnancies were on the rise.

Pharmacy logistics and research officer in the Health ministry, Witness Hussain, on Friday said the ministry recently conducted a cross-sectional study of more than 6 000 adolescent girls, which concluded that among other contributing factors, rendering of contraception was a challenge.

Speaking at the Pharmaceutical Society of Zimbabwe annual pharmacists’ indaba (API) in Victoria Falls, Hussain said the 15 to 19-year age group was the most affected.

This story is for NewsDay subscribers.