Make EC the focus during March campaign
Make EC the focus during March campaign
Help boost awareness of emergency contraception (EC) in March by joining with a coalition of national, state, and local organizations in kicking off the first annual "Back Up Your Birth Control" initiative.
The campaign focuses on the fact that women not only need to know about EC, but they also must have it on hand in case of emergency. March 20, the first day of spring, is being seen as a "day of action" when women, regardless of need, will ask their providers for EC; providers and pharmacists will discuss EC; and activists will lobby state and federal legislatures for increased access to and awareness of the method. In addition, the entire month, which is also Women’s History Month, will serve as the focal point for a variety of other commercial and public-policy initiatives.
At press time, campaign materials were scheduled to be completed by mid-January 2002 for distribution to participating organizations and individuals, according to Stacy Robison, a spokes-woman for the Reproductive Health Technologies Project in Washington, DC, which is coordinating the month-long event. A web site also was scheduled to be activated by late January, she reports. (See resource listing, below.)
More than 20 national organizations have signed up for the initiative, including the New York City-based Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, and the Washington, DC-based American Pharmaceutical Association, American Society of Reproductive Medicine, and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. Several state groups also are lending their support to the effort, says Robison.
More progress needed
Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 approved Preven (Gynétics, Belle Mead, NJ) as the first dedicated EC product, levels of awareness and actual use of EC in the United States remain low. Even with the 1999 approval of a second dedicated product, Plan B (Women’s Capital Corp., Bellevue, WA), advocates says too few providers discuss EC, women don’t raise the issue, and pharmacists aren’t informed or don’t stock EC products.
According to a 2000 national survey of women’s health care providers, nine in 10 OB/GYNs and half of family practice physicians said they had prescribed EC.1 However, the overall percentage of OB/GYNs who prescribed EC in the year prior to the survey held constant with a similar poll conducted in 1997; among family practice physicians, the overall percentage showed a slight decline.
"Our plan is to mobilize physicians to be more active in talking with their patients about emergency contraception," says Carlie Steen, director of public policy and communication for Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. "We know that physicians really need to routinely counsel women of reproductive age about EC on a regular basis, and to pre-prescribe it."
EC to go over the counter?
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health plans to focus its attention during the March campaign to aid the movement to get EC approved as an over-the-counter (OTC) product. The New York City-based Center for Reproductive Law and Policy petitioned the FDA in February 2001 to make EC an OTC product. (See the May 2001 issue of Contraceptive Technology Update, p. 51, "ECPs over the counter? Studies to determine use," for information about the petition.)
The FDA released a statement in September 2001, saying it needed more time before acting on the petition. Under FDA regulations, the agency is obligated to respond to the petition within 180 days of that statement, but there is no deadline for approving or rejecting the petition.
"We have physicians available who would be more than happy, on their own expense, to come talk to the FDA about this issue so we can move this along," says Steen.
What can you do?
How can you make a difference in March? Consider distributing fliers or brochures at local health fairs, writing an editorial or letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or giving a community talk on the subject. Also, inform patients about EC, distribute EC to patients through advance prescriptions, and ask local pharmacies to stock EC, suggests Robison.
Steen says, "Give a prescription the next time you see your patient so that they can have a packet of EC in their medicine cabinet in case they need it." (Editor’s note: The following materials are available on the CTU web site: Before You Start Providing ECPs, Thinking About ECP Policies, and Sample Screening Protocol for the Prescription of Emergency Contraceptive Pills via Telephone. Also, there is a link to the managing contraception web site, which has a patient handout on EC. To access these materials, go to www.contraceptiveupdate.com. Click on "toolbox." Your user name is your subscriber number, which is printed above your name on the mailing label. Your password is ctu plus your subscriber number.)
Reference
- Kaiser Family Foundation. Third National Survey of Women’s Health Care Providers on Reproductive Health. Menlo Park, CA; 2000.
Resources
For more information on "Back Up Your Birth Control" Month, contact:
- The Reproductive Health Technologies Project, 1818 N St. N.W., Suite 450, Washington, DC 20036. Telephone: (202) 530-2900. E-mail: [email protected].
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