Are Emergency Contraceptive Pills Too Taboo for the Social Media Market?
Posted by on June 24, 2013 - 2:52pm

Many women don’t have all the facts when unprotected sex occurs.  Emergency contraceptive methods represent evolving and scientifically viable options for many women, yet are not adequately marketed to the public.  Emergency Contraceptive Pills (EPCs) offer women a fast and private over-the-counter option to use after unprotected sex.  With the multitude of contraceptive agents on the market, EPCs would seemingly be added to the marketing of family planning initiatives.  Yet, surprisingly, EPCs are not marketed effectively, and many women who may wish to consider EPCs as a last-resort option do not have sufficient access to this information.

Elizabeth Westley and Tara Shochet investigate this informational gap in their article Social Marketing of Emergency Contraception: Are We Missing a Valuable Opportunity?  In their attempt to understand this dilemma, they conducted a survey of four social marketing organizations that focused on contraceptive products.  These four organizations were DKT International, Marie Stopes International, Population Services International, and ProSalud Inter Americana; Westley and Shochet identified sub-programs housed under these organizations to get a large enough sample size for their research.  After extensive correspondence, they found that of the 100 programs they documented that focused on family planning, only 33% of them had substantial emergency contraceptive programs.  With data showing that, since 2005, ECPs sales have increased by roughly 7 million, it is difficult to understand why organizations are failing to develop EC programs when there is a clear consumer demand.

Policy barriers, funding difficulties, and lack of knowledge about emergency contraceptives contribute to the underdeveloped nature of EC initiatives.  Court rulings impact the accessibility and sales of emergency contraceptives, and political and non-political groups alike often campaign with anti-EC messages, deeming the issue too “politically sensitive” for many family planning organizations.  Funding and lack of knowledge or awareness about EC go hand-in-hand, since donors typically prefer supporting what is familiar and non-controversial.  Despite these barriers, emergency contraceptives must be effectively marketed to educate the majority of women in developing countries who are unaware of emergency contraceptives.  Furthermore, providing useful and accurate information to women about all their contraceptive options allow women, globally, the right to choose their contraceptive method from a range of alternatives.

HPV vaccine does not promote sexual activity
Posted by on January 9, 2012 - 4:59pm

Despite some assumptions to the contrary, young women who receive recommended vaccinations to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and associated cancers do not engage in more sexually risky behavior. That is the cautious determination of a national study by The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Lead study author Nicole C. Liddon, Ph.D. advised against drawing too broad a conclusion from the study, while explaining the motivation behind it.

“Because of perceived risk that young women would behave recklessly, parents, providers, policy-makers and other STD opponents raised concerns when the FDA first licensed and approved the HPV vaccine in 2006,” said Liddon. “It was clear that we needed to determine whether a relationship existed between being vaccinated against a sexually-transmitted disease and sexual behavior.”

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S. with an estimated 6.2 million new infections annually, according to the study. The disease is linked to various cancers, including cervical and oral.   The authors obtained data from more than 1,200 women ages 15 to 24 years, interviewed as part of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), including demographic and insurance information as well as specific information about sexual education and behaviors and receipt of the HPV vaccine. Age at vaccination was not available, making it uncertain whether HPV vaccination came before or after the start of sexual behaviors.

The researchers found no differences in sexual experience between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. Interestingly, among sexually active young women ages 15 to 19, those who had received the vaccine were more likely to report always using a condom in the past four weeks than those who had not received the vaccine.

“The study helps us answer a question that has captured the imagination of millions of Americans: Does HPV vaccine cause teen girls to have sex earlier or more often?” said Noel T. Brewer, associate professor of the department of health behavior and health education at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “Liddon and her colleagues clearly show that the vaccine does not promote sexual disinhibition,” Brewer continued. “These data are only a preliminary answer to the question as they are from a cross-sectional study of girls’ and women’s self-reports of vaccination. However, the study offers us some of the only data on how HPV vaccine affects behavior.”

Liddon concurred, adding that “the lack of association between vaccination and risky behavior should help assuage concerns between disinhibition and the HPV vaccine. At the same time, we stress this isn’t a definitive answer as to whether or not a relationship exists. Further studies are needed to look at possible causality.”

Source:  Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health

Liddon, N.C., Leichliter, J.S., Markowitz, L.E. (2011). Human Papillomavirus Vaccine and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescent and Young Women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine