According to a new study, there has been a 50% rise in ten years, in the number of underage girls being prescribed the contraceptive pill.
The study, which was conducted by King's College London using official GP prescribing data, revealed that one in 20 girls, who were under the consent age were being prescribed the pill by their general practitioners.
The figures showed the number of girls between the age of 12 and 15 being prescribed contraceptive pills rose from 3.3% in 2002, to 5.2% in 2011, going from 50,000 girls to 75,000.
Dr Asia Rashed, of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science at King's College London led the study. She said, “I was surprised by the figure. 5% is high.”
She further stated how the “Governments want to prevent unwanted pregnancies- and under 16s are sexually active.”
