Femme-Tab 20 contraceptive pill to be subsidised slashing price

A LOWER dose version of the contraceptive pill that reduces side effects like nausea and headaches will be subsidised from next month slashing the cost from $45 to as little as $5.90.

Femme-Tab 20 contains lower amounts of the hormone oestrogen than existing subsidised contraceptives and will be the first such pill to go on the nation's medicine subsidy scheme.

The generic medicine will compete with the contraceptives Microgynon 20, Microlevlen ED and Loette which are currently sold as private prescriptions.

Contraceptive pill without seeing a doctor

While private scripts of these medicines currently cost up to $45, a PBS subsidy will cut the cost to around $20-$25 for general patients and as little as $5.90 for four months supply for those with a concession card. Around a million Australian women use the contraceptive pill and 10 per cent currently pay large amounts out of their own pocket to use a low dose version rather than rely on cheaper higher dose pills that are subsidised.

Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia spokeswoman Dr Caroline Harvey said the subsidy for the lower dose pill would give women, particularly those on lower incomes, more contraception choice.Lower dose contraceptives were also a safe introductory pill for first time users, she said.

"There are benefits for those who have nausea, breast tenderness and headache on higher dose contraceptives,'' Dr Harvey said.

There was a slightly higher risk of unscheduled breakthrough bleeding on the lower dose contraceptives but that usually settled quickly, she said.

While higher dose contraceptives were linked to a higher risk of breast cancer, there was no evidence that lower dose versions were any safer, she said.

Drug company Bayer sells a fifth type of low dose pill called YAZ which contains a different type of the hormone progesterone.

A spokesman said the company had no intention of seeking a subsidy for YAZ, which costs around $70-$80 as a private prescription.

Dr Harvey also encouraged women to speak to their doctors about long-acting contraceptive methods such as inter-uterine devices.

Only around two per cent of Australian women use such devices.

They have a lower failure rate than the pill, which fails almost ten per cent of the time because women forget to take it.

In Europe between 20 and 30 per cent of women used patches or inter-uterine devices that could last up to five years, she said.