United Kingdom: Call for VAT on Condoms to Be Axed

On Tuesday, government advisers called for the Value Added Tax on over-the-counter contraceptives to be abolished in an effort to reduce the "high and prohibitively expensive" costs of unwanted pregnancies and STDs. Persons in at-risk groups, including young people, are sometimes deterred from using condoms because of their price, said the advisers.

Contraceptives are offered free by the National Health Service. But in its first annual report, the independent advisory group for sexual health and HIV said people must feel free to decide where they obtain contraceptives.

The recommendation was supported by the Family Planning Association: It said three-packs of condoms cost an average of £2.80 (US$4.99); spermicides cost £2.60-4.50 (US$4.63-5.53); and the morning-after pill costs £24 (US$42.78).

Already, said the advisory group, contraception saves NHS an estimated £2.5 billion (US$4.46 billion) annually. Abolishing the VAT on the products was among 29 recommendations it made in response to rising rates of STDs, which account for almost 675,000 diagnoses in England each year. It called on NHS to fund 90 percent of all abortions -- up from the current 80 percent; to cut waiting times at sexual health clinics to a maximum of 48 hours; and for clinic services to be tailored to ethnic minorities.

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