Health minister planning to make birth control pills free

Health Minister Andreas Xanthos on Friday announced plans to provide free birth control pills to women covered by national health provider EOPYY as well as uninsured women.

Xanthos was speaking to a parliamentary committee on human rights about the issue of reproductive health when he said that he has already held talks with authorities at EOPYY and received assurances that the plan is doable.

"The birth control pill can no longer be considered a lifestyle option," he said. "It is an important tool for limiting abortions and obviously its use needs to be accompanied by information campaigns and sex education, starting at school."