Greetings Juana Rosa, 

It is estimated that more than a third of pregnancies worldwide are unintended or unwanted. Moreover, millions of women in developing countries die each year from unsafe abortion - 68,000 according to the World Health Organization. This pandemic warrants not only an international investment of family planning dollars, but also bold, innovative strategies that empower women to help themselves.

For 16 years, the Pacific Institute for Women's Health (PIWH) has answered that call. As one of the first NGOs to widely promote access to emergency contraception, PIWH has a longstanding track record of working in partnership in the U.S. and abroad to foster multiple opportunities that improve women's reproductive health options.

In this PIWH newsletter issue, we have captured some of the work PIWH supports through our World Bank Action Grants, as well as some of the successes women themselves are making to improve their reproductive lives. Yet we are mindful that we are only touching the surface and that real change can only be achieved when everyone demands a serious investment in global health.

PIWH's Action Grants program, supported by the World Bank, funds local organizations working to expand sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls around the globe.  In Guatemala, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Sudan and Uganda, PIWH congratulates the accomplishments of our nine Action Grantees!

Lights, camera, ACTION

** Latin-American Consortium for Emergency Contraception (CLAE) serves the countries of South and Central American to promote emergency contraception (EC) access at the legislative, judicial and grassroots levels.

CLAE successfully defeated an ill-founded lawsuit seeking an injunction on the Peruvian Ministry of Health from dispensing free EC. By presenting valid and scientific information, CLAE made the case that not dispensing free EC discriminated against the poorest of women in Peru. ¡Felicidades CLAE!

** Youth Engagement Service (YES) Network Pakistan provides service learning opportunities to disadvantaged youth and offers them the skills to become young entrepreneurs.   

YES established 10 indigenous female-led networks to provide communities with much needed services, such as basic education, vocational training, basic health services and family planning counseling. As entrepreneurs, 50 young girls gain skills, confidence and power to address gender discrimination and reproductive health issues in their communities.

Learn more about our Action Grants! Don't miss our coverage of Gene Sarita's (our exceptional Operations Officer) meeting with Irish Javelona, Executive Director of YADCOM, during her recent trip to the Philippines.    

  New Leadership Program for Pharmacy Community 

Pharmacy Access Partnership, a center of PIWH, in collaboration with UCSF Center for the Health Professions, is proud to announce Pharmacy Forward: Pharmacy Leadership for Reproductive Health - a new leadership training program with CE credit for the pharmacy community.  Pharmacy Forward will engage pharmacists nationally on women's reproductive health issues as well as support their roles as public health advocates. 

APPLICATIONS DUE MAY 30

Get more information and pass it along to you friends and colleagues.  


Leading the Way to Youth Access

Pharmacy Access Partnership (PAP), a center of PIWH, proudly announces the first U.S. based program to promote youth friendly reproductive and sexual health services in pharmacies. The Youth Friendly Pharmacy Initiative collaborated with Cio's Angels to develop a training video and factsheet as part of an innovative training curriculum for pharmacists.  

Cio's Angels are a group of young women who meet weekly to discuss teen issues in Marin County. These young women, not only starred in the training video, but also contributed to its design and content.  This video would not have been possible without their initiative and motivation! PAP sincerely thanks Cio's Angels for their enthusiasm and commitment to youth access.

PAP is also collaborating with the California Pharmacists Association and Walgreens to host several live youth-friendly pharmacy trainings. The training will also be available online.  Stay tuned...

Court ruling on Plan B

March 23, 2009, will go down in history as a day when science trumped politics. On this day, a federal court ruled that the 2006 FDA decision to limit over-the-counter (OTC) access to Plan B emergency contraception (EC) to women over 18 put politics before women's health.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered the FDA to act within 30 days to extend OTC access to 17-year-olds. Quite pointedly, the U.S. district court exposed the FDA's 2006 decision for what it truly was - shortsighted and ill-advised. 

This week the FDA made an official announcement that they would follow the court's ruling and open up access to Plan B emergency contraception to 17 year olds without a prior prescription.

PIWH and PAP have been at the forefront of this issue by raising awareness among young people about EC. And thanks to dedicated legislation in 2002 sponsored by PAP, then a center of the Public Health Institute, pharmacists in California can still make EC directly available to all women regardless of age without a prior prescription.  Eight other states have similar provisions.

We will be closely monitoring the FDA's actions regarding this ruling. Additionally, along with our allies and our Youth Friendly Pharmacy Initiative, we will continue our efforts to ensure that young women and girls have good information, resources and the support they need to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.  

** On another note **
The Federal government has again extended the never-ending waiver to California's Family Pact (FPACT) program until September 2009.  FPACT provides comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services for hundreds of thousands of Californians. These extensions have been occurring for nearly two years and each time they instill more uncertainly about the fate of the program.    

UCLA School of Public Health Alumni Hall of Fame inducts Nicole Maderas!
Nominated by Professor Paula Tavrow and selected by a blue ribbon panel, Nicole Maderas, PAP's Program Administrator was honored for her dedication to public health through research and service at an awards dinner April 16, 2009, in Los Angeles.

Inaugural Celebration, a great success for PIWH in the City of Angels!         Thanks to all our friends and supporters who contributed with their presence and donations to our January 21 Inaugural Celebration at the home of Francine Coeytaux and David Glanzman.  It was a fun-filled evening with 100 guests enjoying spectacular music and scrumptious food.

Please note that you can contribute to PIWH anytime at our website at www.piwh.org.

2009 Jane Boggess Advancement of Pharmacy Practice Award
This year's prestigious Jane Boggess award was presented to R. William Soller, PhD., a long-time member of PAP's Circle of Advisors, and Eleanor M. Vogt, RPh, PhD, for their leadership of the Center for Consumer Self Care at UCSF School of Pharmacy. This award was named in honor of its first recipient, the late Jane Boggess, and is given by the Pharmacy Foundation of California to recognize innovators that adopt strategies to advance non-traditional pharmacy services.

California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom (CCRF), Reproductive Freedom Day (March 24, 2009) a huge success in Sacramento!
Working to protect and expand reproductive rights and health in California, CCRF mobilized over 180 people - more than half of whom were young people of color under the age 30. Participants lobbied state lawmakers in support of SB810 (Leno), the California Universal Health Care Act of 2009. Assemblywoman and State Assembly Majority Whip Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) addressed the crowed with a message about the importance of participating in all aspects of the political process - from voting to running for office!