French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that condoms would be made available for free in pharmacies for 18- to 25-year-olds. The move is aimed at reducing unwanted pregnancies among young people.
The government began this year offering free birth control for women under 25, expanding a scheme targeting under-18s to ensure young women do not stop taking contraception because they cannot afford it.
‘It’s a small revolution for contraception,’ Macron said during a health debate with young people in Fontaine-le-Comte, a suburb of Poitiers in western France.
Condoms are already reimbursed by the national healthcare system if prescribed by a doctor or midwife, a measure intended to fight the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
On sexual education overall, ‘we are not very good on this subject. The reality is very, very different from the theory. It’s an area where we need to much better educate our teachers’, Macron said.
