KEY POINTS:
- Should contraception be free?
Waikato Primary Health, which serves 305,000 people, provides a vasectomy for men or insertion of long-term contraceptive implants called Mirena for women. Vasectomy costs $360 and Mirena $525, in contrast to female surgical sterilisation by tubal ligation which can cost $1500.
The offer to Maori, Pacific and low-income families was prompted by a study for the Waikato District Health Board which identified problems in women's access to publicly funded tubal ligation surgery for sterilisation.
Debate on this issue is now closed. Here is a selection of Your Views:
