A SCHEME to make the morning after pill available over a chemist's counter to girls as young as 13 is to start in North Yorkshire.
The borough of Scarborough has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the county, with one in every 30 girls becoming mothers before they reach their 18th birthday.
Now, Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Primary Care Group hopes the free emergency contraception will help to cut that figure because, it claims, about 95 per cent of pregnancies can be prevented if the pill is taken within 24 hours of intercourse.
The Scarborough scheme follows a similar project in County Durham, where 33 chemists offer free emergency contraception.
The pharmacists have undergone extra training to enable them to direct people to appropriate long-term sexual healthcare services.
They say the normal cost of the morning after pill - £19.99 is out of reach for teenagers on pocket money
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