ALL WOMEN must be given the choice of using longer- acting contraceptives on the health service, freeing them from the need to take the daily Pill, the treatment watchdog will recommend today.

Birth control injections and implants that prevent pregnancy for years should always be offered by doctors, says the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The guidelines mark one of the most significant reappraisals of contraception since the introduction of the Pill in the 1960s. Unlike the Pill or condoms, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) require only a single injection or implant and carry much smaller risks of unplanned pregnancies.

NICE said that such pregnancies could be reduced by tens of thousands if more women took up the offer of LARC, saving them from unexpected trauma and relieving cost pressures on the NHS. Pro-life campaigners last night gave warning that encouraging increased use of LARC could encourage promiscuity and the rise of sexually transmitted infections.

Matthew O’Gorman, a spokesman for the pro-life group LIFE, said: “What this does is make people more likely to engage in sex at a young age and be more promiscuous, which will only contribute to the country’s sexual health problems.”

Family planning campaigners said that there was a shocking lack of awareness of LARC, which had many benefits for women but was rarely offered because of the cost. A traditional reliance on the Pill by GPs has also been cited as the reason for low usage.

Long-acting contraceptives were used by only 8 per cent of British women aged 16 to 49 for 2003-04, compared with 25 per cent on the Pill and 23 per cent using condoms.

Toni Belfield, of the family planning charity FPA, said that information on such contraception should be a part of people’s sex education from school age.

“The reality is that women do not know that they have a full range of contraceptive choices,” she said. “We all know about condoms and the Pill, but where are all the other methods in between?”

The guidance, issued for England and Wales today, is best practice that should be followed by all health trusts. It says that LARC methods should be offered to all women seeking contraceptive advice.

For injections, women would need to visit the doctor every 12 weeks for another jab, while an implant would last for three years. Other methods include the intrauterine device and intrauterine system, which can be effective for five years or more.

NICE said that increasing uptake of LARC methods would reduce unintended pregnancies and save the NHS money. One study suggested that if 7.7 per cent of women moved from the Pill to LARC, unplanned pregnancies in England could be cut by 70,000 a year. It is estimated that 400,000 pregnancies a year are unplanned.

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