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May 1, 2017
 
Dear friends and colleagues,

I'm pleased to send you the first edition of Gynuity Health Projects' E-news bulletin, where we share information about our work and collaborators in the field. We'll report on recent and upcoming meetings, highlights of new and ongoing projects, recently published articles and materials, and our key achievements. We will also have a  "Spotlight on..." feature in each newsletter providing an in-depth look at a specific project.
 
Our team is more dedicated than ever to our work and we are pleased to enjoy a wonderful community of colleagues and friends in our joint pursuit of health and justice for all. Stay tuned for more from Gynuity Health Projects, and please share freely our E-news bulletin!





Very best wishes,
 
Beverly 
 
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
Gynuity video receives honorable mention at 2017 CUGH-Pulitzer Global Health Video  Competition
 
The video 'Postpartum Hemorrhage Management in Home Delivery Settings in Chitral, Pakistan', produced by Gynuity Health Projects and Red Rabbit Productions, showcases a service mode l that provides trained traditional birth attendants with misoprostol to use in home deliveries to manage postpartum hemorrhage. A screening was held at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) annual academic conference in Washington DC on April 7- 9, 2017.
MATERIALS
Multi-level Pregnancy Test (MLPT) FAQ
Gynuity has developed a document with answers to frequently asked questions on the use of multi-level pregnancy tests following medical abortion. Access the MLPT FAQ here.  
 
Abortion with Self-Administered Misoprostol: A Guide For Women 
This information sheet, updated in November 2016, was designed for women's health advocates in collaboration with the International Women's Health Coalition. It offers information about the use of misopr
ost ol regimens for pregnancy termination including dosing options, primary and secondary effects, and sources of misoprostol. The resource is available in four languages. Access the information sheet here

UPCOMING MEETINGS
ICM Triennial Congress 2017
 
Session Date/Time: Tuesday June 20, 2017 @ 2:00-3:30pm
Session Title: New technologies and models for facilitating timely management of PPH at all levels of care

Session Content:  
  • New models of PPH management using misoprostol at the community level
  • Is an ounce of PPH prevention worth a pound of treatment? Implications of research from India and Egypt comparing primary prevention to secondary prevention/early treatment of PPH
  • The role of condom uterine-balloon tamponade in PPH management: a community stepped-wedged trial in secondary level referral facilities in Egypt, Senegal and Uganda
  • Time to rethink how we diagnose and treat PPH? The role of shock index in PPH diagnosis
Session Date/Time:  Wednesday June 21, 2017 @ 11:00-12:30
Session Title: Global models, new evidence and recommendations supporting the critical role of midwives and other health providers in improving access to abortion care

Session Content:
  • Midwives and nurse midwives as providers of abortion and postabortion care at the primary care level: lessons learned from Egypt and Tunisia
  • Senegal's national program to expand postabortion care to the primary care level
  • The role of Lady Health Visitors in expanding access to menstrual regulation and postabortion care: evidence from Pakistan
  • Involving midwives when abortion is in transition: evidence from Mexico
RECENT STAFF PUBLICATIONS
Raymond, E.G., Blanchard, K., Blumenthal, P.D., Cleland, K., Foster, A.M., Gold, M., Grossman, D., Pendergast, M.K., Westhoff, C.L., Winikoff, B. Mifeprex REMS Study Group. Sixteen Years of Overregulation: Time to Unburden Mifeprex. New England Journal of Medicine. 2017 Feb;376(8):790-794.

Louie, K.S., Chong, E., Tsereteli, T., Avagyan, G., Abrahamyan, R., Winikoff, B. Second trimester medical abortion with mifepristone followed by unlimited dosing of buccal misoprostol in Armenia. 
European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Ca re. 2017 Feb;22(1):76-80. 

Whitehouse, K.C., Kim, C.R., Ganatra, B., Duffy, J.M., Blum, J., Brahmi, D., Creinin, M.D., DePiñeres, T., Gemzell-Danielsson, K., Grossman, D., Winikoff, B., Gülmezoglu, A.M. Standardizing abortion research outcomes (STAR): A protocol for developing, disseminating and implementing a core outcome set for medical and surgical abortion. Contraception. 2017 Jan 5 [Epub ahead of print].

Raymond, E.G., Shochet, T., Blum, J., Sheldon, W.R., Platais, I., Bracken, H., Dabash, R., Weaver, M.A., Ngoc, N.T., Blumenthal, P.D., Winikoff, B. Serial multilevel urine pregnancy testing to assess medical abortion outcome: A meta-analysis. Contraception. 2016 Dec 29. [Epub ahead of print].

Kalams, S.A., Rogers, L.M., Smith, R.M., Barnett, L., Crumbo, K., Sumner, S., Prashad, N., Rybczyk, K., Milne, G., Dowd, S.E., Chong, E., Winikoff, B., Aronoff, D.M. Neither vaginal nor buccal administration of 800 msg misoprostol alters mucosal and systemic immune activation or the cervicovaginal microbiome: A pilot study. European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. 2016 Dec;21(6):436-442.

SPOTLIGHT ON...Spotlight
TelAbortion

The TelAbortion Study is an exciting new research project. This study evaluates the use of   telemedicine for providing a medical abortion (abortion with pills) to women who may have difficulty getting to a clinic where abortion is provided. In the United States, women find it increasingly challenging to access abortion services due to distance, travel costs, the need for childcare, harassment by protesters, and other reasons. Even though millions of women have used abortion pills, and their safety is well-established, the medications are not available in pharmacies (even with a prescription) and instead must be obtained directly from providers. Through the TelAbortion Study, eligible women can receive the medications by mail and be followed by their providers remotely.
 
Study participants have a video evaluation with an abortion provider in their homes or a place of their choosing, and then obtain necessary pre-abortion tests at radiology or lab facilities close to them. If eligible to use medical abortion, women receive pills by mail from the provider, and have a follow-up video consultation about a week later. We are collecting data to determine how well this service model works and whether women like this telemedicine approach for providing medical abortion. The TelAbortion Study is currently operating in four states - Oregon, Washington, New York, and Hawaii, and we have plans to expand to additional states within the next year. So far, more than 50 women have been enrolled, and the responses have been positive from both providers and patients. To find out more information, please visit the study website at: www.telabortion.org.
Tel: 1+212.448.1230