£1 pregnancy test kit
A pregnancy test is on sale priced just £1.
The bargain buy is on sale in Poundland – sandwiched between discount chocolate and 12-for-a-pound ballpoint pens.
The shop opened in Redhill Town Centre in July and has been vastly popular with bargain hunters queuing to buy cut-price goods.
But some residents are concerned penny-pinching has gone a step too far, and selling discount pregnancy tests could encourage youth promiscuity.
Andrea Joseph, 23, of Merstham, contacted the Mirror after discovering the discount test and was concerned about its implications.
She said: "I work in Choice newsagent in Redhill, and I see many girls who I used to sell penny sweets to coming in with children. There is a lot of teenage pregnancy in Redhill.
"I went into Poundland for the first time on Monday and I saw something sickening. To my disgust I actually saw a pregnancy test on sale for only one pound – and two girls looking at them who couldn't have been older than 13.
"I really feel this is encouraging underage teenagers to be unsafe. The test is cheaper than condoms – this sort of thing is not encouraging young people to use protection."
The Mirror did a price check, and found that the second-cheapest pregnancy test available in Redhill cost £3.99 – four times the amount of the Poundland bargain.
Prices in a major chemist chain showed most pregnancy tests cost, on average, £8, and digital tests cost up to £10.59.
The price may be cheap, but chemist Karen Dolphin urges people to go to doctor if they think they're pregnant.
Karen, who works at Holmehurst Medical Centre, in Watercolors, said: "It's always best to get checked out by a doctor. It's confidential, reliable, and even cheaper than a pound – it's free."
Despite the £1 price tag, Karen doesn't believe the tests to be unreliable. She said: "The test has an EU mark so it has gone through a series of testing.
"These cheap tests can probably be best used as a simple check before going to your doctor. But I suppose there is always the danger that the test can be falsely negative – so it's always best to get to your doctor in any circumstance."
A spokeswoman for Poundland said: "Many supermarkets and high street retailers sell pregnancy tests. Poundland is no exception.
"We have been selling pregnancy tests for four years and sales have remained constant, so we have no plans to withdraw them from our shelves."
2 Comments
by Rosie, East Coast
Sunday, November 01 2009, 4:38PM
“This has really upset me!
How something woman have come to depend on and something virtually most woman will come across to using at some point in their lives has been slated for a price!
I am a young girl, have been with my partner for nearly 8 months now and have always been very safe but as the world works, accidents happen and i now fear i could be pregnant! i remember once going into poundland and seeing such a great price! my first reaction thought that you must need to do a couple just to be sure but that would still be less than what you will find anywhere else!
I am going to make my way there soon and buy a couple because at the moment money is tight and it saves the worry and waiting of saving up to buy another somewhere else of the rediculous price of up tp nearly £12!
So i'm happy they can offer it and am apalled how someone could pigeon hole young girls into being promiscuos!
Its up to the idividual what they do with their sex lives you know!!!
We are all different!”
by Basil, Surrey
Saturday, August 29 2009, 8:28PM
“How on earth can a pregnancy test encourage promiscuity? "I can have loads more unprotected sex now, because now I can afford the pregnancy tests!"
"Cheaper than condoms"? Does Andrea Joseph think pregnancy tests are like the morning after pill?
Slow news day.”