Women will have to wait two weeks for a brand of birth control pills to be airfreighted after a nationwide shortage.
A woman from Napier has spoken of the inconvenience after searching for the Marvelon 28 birth control pills.
"I went to three chemists and the story was the same: 'We don't have it for the next couple of weeks'”, she told NZ Herald.
"They said there was a shortage throughout the whole country. The shelves are empty. They don't have anything. They can't even give you one sheet of pills.
"There's just absolutely nothing."
The Marvelon 28 birth control medication is expected to be airfreighted from the Netherlands on November 4, according to Pharmac, a drug purchasing company.
"Once this arrives in New Zealand, it usually takes approximately a week for stock to be distributed through the supply chain to pharmacy," Pharmac spokeswoman Rachel Mackay said.
"Once this arrives in New Zealand, it usually takes approximately a week for stock to be distributed through the supply chain to pharmacy."
In the meantime, Pharmaceutical Society president Elizabeth Plant has suggested women see their GPs to discuss alternative medication.
But this is not without inconvenience, she adds.
"Patients do get used to one oral contraceptive and it is extremely concerning when they have to change, particularly something that women rely on like this."
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