Tesco has elicited congratulations and criticism this week as two of its stores in the West of England joined a publicly funded pilot programme to hand out the morning-after emergency contraception pill free-of-charge to teenage girls.
 
The pills, which are more effective if taken immediately, will be stocked at the pharmacy counters in Tesco stores in Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon, both near Bristol.

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The British parliament voted last year to allow over-the-counter sales of the pill in a bid to reduce the levels of teenage pregnancy. It is currently available for £20 (US$28.40) to women over the age of 16, the idea being that younger women will be encouraged to visit the doctor, where they can receive the pill for free as well as sexual advice.


Karen Marshall, a Tesco spokeswoman, explained that specially trained pharmacists would interview each teenager before handing over the pill. The women must be under 20 years old, she added.


The local health authority in North Somerset, western England, contacted Tesco to join the programme, and the North Somerset Teenage Pregnancy Clinic is collaborating with the company.


While the programme has been welcomed in many quarters, critics argue that the fact the pill is available in Tesco will encourage teenagers to have sex. A spokeswoman from Anti-abortion group Life, Rachel Heath, told the Associated Press: “Yet again we are seeing a decline in the moral standards of an organisation which ought to know better.”

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Britain’s birth rate amongst teenage girls is double that of Germany and three times higher than in France, but lower than the rates in the US, Canada and New Zealand. The British government aims to reduce the rate from its 1999 level by 15% before 2004.