Medicines360 Launches #NotAwkward Campaign to Encourage Positive Conversations about Birth Control and Reproductive Health

New survey finds the top access challenge cited by women is feeling uncomfortable discussing sex or birth control

SAN FRANCISCO (September 16, 2019)  Medicines360, a nonprofit women’s health organization tackling the most pressing needs in women’s health, today announced the launch of #NotAwkward, a campaign to encourage positive conversations about birth control and reproductive health. The campaign was created in response to a national survey finding that of the nearly half (46%) of 18-34-year-old women who have experienced an issue getting birth control, feeling uncomfortable talking about sex or birth control with family was a major barrier (39%).

The survey was conducted by international polling firm, YouGov, for Medicines360 to better understand the various obstacles women face when trying to get birth control.

“It is stunning that even today so many women face obstacles when seeking birth control, including feeling uncomfortable talking about it,” said Jessica Grossman, M.D., CEO of Medicines360. “This affects every woman, and we should never be made to feel awkward bringing it up. Women are not alone in this experience, so we can all make a difference by sharing our stories and quality information about birth control and our reproductive health.”

Medicines360 is inviting women to share their stories about accessing birth control using #NotAwkward on Twitter and Instagram.

“We want to change this conversation by talking about it openly,” said Dr. Grossman. “If you’ve ever had an awkward conversation about birth control or sexual health – or a great one – let’s talk about it. We can learn from, and lean on, each other.”

According to the survey, almost two in five 18-34-year-old women (36%) are not getting their birth control information from an HCP, and instead are looking to the internet (54%) and friends (28%). The data also found that 38% of women 18-34 are aware of five or fewer birth control options, signaling limited or no knowledge of their birth control options.

#NotAwkward is part of Medicines360’s ongoing commitment to removing the barriers women face when seeking birth control. Among other efforts, the organization provides its hormonal IUD to public health clinics at a low cost. Medicines360 is also actively working to expand access to IUDs to women across the globe, most recently in Madagascar and Zambia.

To learn more about the campaign and to hear other women’s stories, visit https://www.medicines360.org/women. To share your story on Twitter or Instagram, use #NotAwkward.

ABOUT MEDICINES360

Medicines360, located in San Francisco, California, is a nonprofit global women’s health pharmaceutical company with a mission to remove cost as a barrier to health by developing and providing affordable Women’s Health products. Medicines360 is committed to working with healthcare providers, advocacy groups and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help women around the world have greater access to the medicines they need. For more information, visit www.medicines360.org

ABOUT THE YOUGOV SURVEY
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 583 women, ages 18-34. Fieldwork was undertaken between July 9-12, 2019. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+).

 

About Medicines360

Located in San Francisco, California, Medicines360 is a global nonprofit pharmaceutical organization with a mission to accelerate the timeline from health innovation to access for all women. Medicines360 is committed to working with healthcare providers, advocacy groups, and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help women around the world have greater access to the medicines they need. For more information, visit www.medicines360.org.

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AVIBELA can be made available in the following 88 countries

  1. Algeria
  2. Angola
  3. Bangladesh
  4. Belize
  5. Benin
  6. Bhutan
  7. Botswana
  8. Burkina Faso
  9. Burundi
  10. Cambodia
  11. Cameroon
  12. Cape Verde
  13. Central African Republic
  14. Chad
  15. Comoros
  16. Costa Rica
  17. Cuba
  18. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  19. Djibouti
  20. Dominica
  21. Dominican Republic
  22. Egypt
  23. El Salvador
  24. Equatorial Guinea
  25. Eritrea
  26. Ethiopia
  27. Gabon
  28. Ghana
  29. Grenada
  30. Guatemala
  31. Guinea
  32. Guinea-Bissau
  33. Haiti
  34. Honduras
  35. India
  36. Indonesia
  37. Ivory Coast
  38. Jamaica
  39. Kenya
  40. Lao PDR
  41. Lesotho
  42. Liberia
  43. Libya
  44. Madagascar
  45. Malawi
  46. Malaysia
  47. Maldives
  48. Mali
  49. Mauritania
  50. Mauritius
  51. Mayotte
  52. Morocco
  53. Mozambique
  54. Myanmar
  55. Namibia
  56. Nepal
  57. Nicaragua
  58. Niger
  59. Nigeria
  60. Pakistan
  61. Panama
  62. Papua New Guinea
  63. Philippines
  64. Republic of the Congo
  65. Rwanda
  66. Sao Tome and Principe
  67. Senegal
  68. Seychelles
  69. Sierra Leone
  70. Somalia
  71. South Africa
  72. South Sudan
  73. Sri Lanka
  74. Kitts and Nevis
  75. Lucia
  76. Vincent & the Grenadines
  77. Sudan
  78. Swaziland
  79. Tanzania
  80. Thailand
  81. The Gambia
  82. Timor-Leste
  83. Togo
  84. Tunisia
  85. Uganda
  86. Vietnam
  87. Zambia
  88. Sri Lanka

Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, FACOG

Chief Executive Officer

Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, is CEO of Medicines360. Previously, she served as a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the research director of the Women’s Health Research Institute. She is a Board-Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist who received her medical training at the University of California, San Diego, and post-graduate residency training and MPH at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she also completed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship. She was also senior staff physician at Kaiser Permanente and has a special interest in family planning and adolescent reproductive health.

As the director of the Women’s Health Research Institute, Dr. Raine-Bennett focused on expanding research on women’s health within the Division and translating women’s health research into clinical practice and policy within the Ob/Gyn departments in Northern California. She also promoted the involvement of clinicians in research designed to improve the health outcomes and healthcare experiences of women at Kaiser Permanente and women in general.

Prior to Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Raine-Bennett was a professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She was based at San Francisco General Hospital where she was also the medical director of the New Generation Health Center, a UCSF affiliate site that provides community-based reproductive health services. Dr. Raine-Bennett’s research has focused on contraceptive methods and on elucidating factors that influence contraceptive choice and continuation, and she was principal investigator on NIH grants to assess hormonal contraceptive use predictors and develop interventions to improve contraceptive access.

Her past and current research on emergency contraception has focused on the safety of making emergency contraception more accessible and she conducted a pivotal clinical trial to make emergency contraception available to teens without a prescription. She served on the editorial board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications. She was the Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Society of Family Planning and Society of Family Planning Research Fund. She has also served as an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and on national committees for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the National Medical Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.