IFPA suspends free services over funding shortage

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) today announced it was suspending services to medical card clients at its flagship Dublin clinic due to what it said was a lack of funding from the Northern Area Health Board (NAHB).

In a statement released this afternoon, the IFPA said it learned that no further funding would be available from the Health Board for the remainder of 2003 to cover medical card services at its Cathal Brugha Street clinic.

So far this year, the IFPA said, 4,000 medical card holders have attended the city centre clinic. The decision to suspended further services until the end of the year is likely to affect up to 1,500 people. The cost of continuing to fund the service is about €40,000.

The chief executive of the IFPA, Ms Catherine Heaney, told ireland.comthe suspension of services to medical card holders was "very unfortunate" particularly because "so many of the clients that attend our clinics are quite vulnerable".

The IFPA's Cathal Brugha Street clinic attracts a high proportion of young clients. A recent client survey showed that over 56 per cent of those attending were in the 18-25 age group, which the IFPA says is the group most at risk of crisis pregnancy or contracting an STD.

Ms Heaney advised clients who would not now be able to avail of the service at the clinic to attend their GP for family planning and women's health services.

"The suspension of our services may have serious consequences for these clients in terms of their choice around family planning. It may also lead to an increase in crisis pregnancy," she said.

"Family planning and women's health screening are preventative interventions. Through the provision of quality reproductive healthcare, women can avoid crisis pregnancy. Smear testing and breast awareness ensure early detection of cancers and screening allows for the diagnoses and treatment of STDs.

"There is political consensus around the need to prevent crisis pregnancies and reduce the number of women who access abortion services. This Government has committed itself to the task of reducing crisis pregnancy. However, the lack of funding for an important prevention service flies in the face of this," Ms Heaney said.

Independent Senator, Dr Mary Henry said she was "dismayed" by the announcement and described it as "very sad". She said the amount of money required to ensure services continued to be made available to people who she described as the "most vulnerable".

A spokesman for the NAHB was unavailable for comment this afternoon.

The IFPA has, to date, heavily discounted its medical card service. Clients are regularly referred to the IFPA by GPs who do not provide the full range of family planning and reproductive health services, including vasectomy and the insertion and removal of contraceptive devices.