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| Helping pharmacy & health communities improve access to Emergency Contraception (EC) |
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For the Media2009 May 18, 2009 Pharmacy Access Partnership, a Center of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health, Launches the First US-Based Program to Promote Youth Access in Pharmacies (Los Angeles/Oakland, CA) – Pharmacists, health care professionals and advocates, and youth and youth-serving organizations from across California are participating in the first, U.S.-based collaboration to increase youth access to sexual and reproductive health care services in pharmacies. The Youth-Friendly Pharmacy Initiative represents an urgent call-to-action to adequately address the sexual and reproductive health care needs of California’s youth. Coordinators say there are critical needs to address, including reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that teen pregnancies are on the rise again after a steady 15-year decline. Moreover, California has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the country. The CDC also reports that one in four teenage girls in the U.S. has a sexually transmitted infection. The Youth-Friendly Pharmacy Initiative is designed to improve youth access to reproductive health care services in pharmacies by increasing teens’ awareness and access to services. The program also aims to enhance pharmacies’ capacity to attract, serve and retain youth clients. According to Belle Taylor-McGhee, President and CEO of the Pacific Institute for Women’s health, pharmacies and pharmacists represent an essential access point of care for California’s teens, and with culturally relevant training provided through the Youth Friendly Pharmacy Initiative, they will be better equipped to respond to emerging teen health issues, including the FDA’s recent decision to allow over-the-counter access to emergency contraception to 17 year olds. “When adolescents and teens are given good information and easy access to services, they are empowered to make good decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. We are very excited about this initiative and have been extremely encouraged by the positive response from pharmacists, medical providers and youth-serving organizations,” said Taylor-McGhee. PIWH collaborators include the Marin County Department of Health Services, Walgreens Pharmacies, and the California Pharmacists Association. For more information regarding the Youth Friendly Pharmacy Initiative, visit www.piwh.org or contact Juana Rosa Cavero at jrcavero@piwh.org. **Update: June 2009** In order for the FDA’s April 22 decision to allow 17-year olds OTC access to Plan B, the manufacturer, Duramed - a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - must relabel the product to reflect the change in OTC availability to 17 year-olds. April 22, 2009 Statement by Belle Taylor-McGhee, President and CEO, Pacific Institute for Women’s Health, on FDA’s Decision to Follow Court Ruling To Open Up Access To Plan B Emergency Contraception “FDA Agrees To Do The Right Thing” (Los Angeles/Oakland, CA) - The Pacific Institute for Women’s Health (PIWH) applauds the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to end the senseless delays to allow over-the-counter access to Plan B emergency contraception to 17 year olds. The FDA restricted access to consumers 18 and older two years ago despite its own scientific advisory committee’s conclusion that Plan B is safe for women of all ages. After a federal court ordered the FDA earlier this month to rethink its earlier action, the women’s health community had hoped that the FDA would not appeal and do the right thing. Today’s FDA decision to do just that is long overdue. Now 17 year olds can get Plan B without a prior prescription. Yet we are still mindful that women under 17 must still have a prescription to get Plan B – despite lack of scientific evidence that a prior prescription is medically necessary. Full access to all women in preventing unintended pregnancy is a goal that we will not let go. PIWH will continue to advocate for unrestricted access to Plan B for all women – regardless of age. Meanwhile, certified pharmacists in California and eight other states (AK, HI, MA, ME, WA, VT, NH, NM) continue to provide Plan B without a prior prescription from a doctor or clinic. For more information please visit our website at www.piwh.org. February 2, 2009 National Survey Shows Pharmacists Want to Provide Birth Control and Help Prevent Pregnancies for 22 million U.S. Women (Los Angeles/Oakland, CA) – A national study published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association shows that the majority of U.S. pharmacists want to provide women direct access to birth control without an advance prescription from a doctor. Study authors say not only are pharmacists willing to provide direct access to birth control pills, the contraceptive patch and vaginal ring, the majority of American women say they would gladly seek these products directly from the pharmacy without having to get a prescription from a doctor or clinic. Conducted by Pharmacy Access Partnership, a center of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health, and in collaboration with the American Pharmacists Association, the study counters claims that most pharmacists have a moral objection to providing contraceptives. In fact, the research reveals that not only are the majority of pharmacists (85%) interested in providing birth control directly to women, nearly all (98%) view this as an important health care issue. Currently, the only hormonal contraceptive option available to women without a prescription is emergency contraception and it is restricted to women over 18 years of age. All other hormonal contraceptives require a medical prescription. Yet, only nine states have a pharmacy access model for emergency contraception where specially trained pharmacists can provide the product without a doctor’s prescription. According to the study’s author, Sharon Landau, MPH, Director of Pharmacy Access Partnership, these harsh economic times require that we all think strategically about how to make family planning services and products more accessible and affordable to all women. “If more states implement pharmacy access programs to include other birth control options, the U.S. could serve between 17-22 million women nationwide and potentially prevent half a million unintended pregnancies each year,” said Landau. Landau highlights that England just embarked on a pilot pharmacy access program for hormonal birth control methods. And Washington State also implemented a pharmacy access demonstration program, which showed patient satisfaction with pharmacists’ services and the convenience pharmacies offer. One in five U.S. states has a regulatory environment that currently allows for similar pharmacy access programs. Pharmacy Access Partnership and the Pacific Institute for Women's Health are exploring implementing a similar pilot in California. View the full study, titled “Pharmacist interest in and attitudes towards direct pharmacy access to hormonal contraception in the United States.” Learn more about Pharmacy Access to Hormonal Contraceptives. 2008 May 19, 2008 April 2008 February 2008 2007 December 2007 December 2007 Fall 2007 September 2007 August 23, 2007 August 21, 2007 August 2007 July 10, 2007 June 1, 2007 May 2007 May 24,2007 May 23, 2007
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