London, Mar 19 (IANS): Providing the morning-after pill in advance does nothing to cut teenage pregnancy rates, researchers claim.

The use of emergency contraception doubled in just six years, but the latest data shows it has failed to slash rates of conception or sexually transmitted infections, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The findings by the Cochrane Library Review cast serious doubt over the British government's decision to promote emergency contraception as part of its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy.

Ministers hoped easier access to morning-after pills through pharmacies and even schools would bring down rates of unplanned pregnancies and abortions.

In 1996, six percent of women who requested an abortion had tried emergency contraception first. By 2002, this figure had doubled to 12 percent.

The review concludes that women who receive an advance supply of the morning-after pill have an equal chance of becoming pregnant as those who do not have early access to the contraceptive.

The research, based on 11 trials of almost 8,000 women in the US, India, China and Sweden, also found that the presence of emergency contraception does not lead to an increase in promiscuity.