Manitoba pharmacists can soon prescribe birth control

Pharmacists in Manitoba will soon be able to prescribe contraceptives to people wanting them.

Pharmacists in Manitoba will soon be able to prescribe birth control.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara confirmed the plans during question period at the Manitoba legislature on Wednesday, following an exchange with Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux.

Lamoureux asked Asagwara if the province would enable and empower physicians to assess and prescribe contraception.

“The short answer to that question for the member for Tyndall Park is yes. That is a very reasonable expansion of scope for pharmacists in Manitoba,” Asagwara said.

“We want pharmacists who graduate in our great province to know that right here, in their own province, they can practice to their full scope and that their scope is going to be enhanced.”

In Manitoba, prescriptions for birth control products are typically handled by a doctor or nurse practitioner. Lamoureux noted that in British Columbia, pharmacists have had the ability to prescribe contraceptives for more than a year.

Asagwara said the government is working on the necessary regulatory and legislative changes to make it possible in Manitoba.