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<p>Local authorities across England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive,
openly accessible sexual and reproductive health services, which includes the provision
of free contraception to meet local demand. Local authorities decide on commissioning
arrangements based on an assessment of local need, including the needs of young and
vulnerable people. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general
practices (GPs).</p><p>The Government is committed to improving access to contraception,
and reducing reproductive health inequalities. The Women’s Health Strategy sets out
our 10-year ambition and the actions we are taking to improve disparities in access
to services, experiences of services, and outcomes for all women and girls.</p><p>As
part of our work to deliver the Women’s Health Strategy we have launched a dedicated
women’s health area on the National Health Service website as a first port of call
for women’s health information, including contraception. We have also worked closely
with NHS Digital to create a new YouTube series on contraception, which has been designed
to help answer common questions often found in search engines, as well as more detailed
information on the range of contraceptive methods available.</p><p>In 2023 we also
introduced the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service. This service offers greater choice
in how people can access contraception services. It will also create additional capacity
in GPs and sexual health clinics, to support meeting the demand for more complex assessments.</p><p>We
are working with the Women’s Health Ambassador and others to provide health information
to diverse groups of women, across their life course. We know that young people who
receive effective relationships and sex education are more likely to use contraception
and condoms, and less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager, and in
later life.</p><p>The 2020 roll-out of statutory relationships and sex education in
all schools means that more young people receive support to prevent early unplanned
pregnancy through learning about the full range of contraceptive choices and sexual
health services available. The statutory guidance is available at the following link:</p><p>
</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education</a></p><p>
</p><p>As set out in the Women's Health Strategy, the Department of Health and Social
Care and the Department for Education are working to understand women’s health topics
that teachers feel less confident in teaching, and we will work to improve provision
of high-quality teaching resources.</p>
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