About 245,000 people [1] accessed the State-funded contraception scheme at least once during the first nine months of 2024, new figures show.
The scheme was introduced in September 2022, initially for women aged between 17 and 25 and has since been expanded to include 26 to 35-year-olds despite a 2019 Working Group on Access to Contraception, under the then Health Minister, Simon Harris, say the proposal would probably be a waste of public funds [2].
The scheme is projected to reach 320,000 women by the end of the year.
This compares with just under 189,000 women who accessed the scheme in 2023.
A total of €48m was allocated to the scheme this year and almost 2,400 GPs and 2,050 pharmacies are providing services under the scheme.