Merck spinout and women’s health specialist Organon is funneling $30 million into community-driven solutions for the 121 million women and girls who experience unplanned pregnancies each year.
Launching “Her Plan is Her Power,” the pharma company, which markets dozens of meds including female contraceptives, says the new campaign is focused on improving women’s public health initiatives.
Via the effort, which will run from 2023 through 2025, Organon will release a number of programs, collaborations and investments aimed at addressing the lack of access and inequities in women’s contraceptive information and services.
Around half of all pregnancies worldwide are unplanned, and this fact is linked with increased health risks for mother and baby and a reduction in education and employment opportunities for both mother and child. Therefore, the new initiative builds upon Organon’s “Her Promise” platform launched in 2022.
“We are seeking to reach stakeholders at every level, from governments, to nonprofits, to women themselves—there is a need for increased awareness and investment in addressing unplanned pregnancy, and everyone has a role to play in empowering women and girls with information, education, access and innovation,” a spokesperson from Organon told Fierce Pharma Marketing in an interview.
Unplanned pregnancies are primarily attributed to a lack of access and services revolving around contraceptive information. With this $30 million pledge, Organon hopes to empower women to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health (SRH).
Some examples of collaboratives include working with UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, to help reduce unplanned pregnancies. A new challenge run by UNFPA was established with Organon funding and aims to support young innovators from around the world to drive change and contribute to enhanced access to SRH/FP information, services and commodities.
Some of the funding from Organon will also go toward working with the Kenan Foundation, which aims to provide factory workers in Thailand access to SRH services. The foundation also promotes gender equality in these workers’ immediate ecosystem and to take important first steps toward securing a sustainable future for Thailand.
An additional collaboration between Organon and Power to Decide will help students at four historically Black colleges and universities promote a culture of reproductive well-being and increase knowledge about reproductive and sexual health and provide access to free-or-low-cost birth control methods.
“Empowering women with broad contraceptive access and education is a fundamental driver of equity and helping women decide when—and if—they decide to start a family,” Kevin Ali, CEO of Organon, said in a press release.
“Organon is proud to launch ‘Her Plan is Her Power’ and work with others to focus our resources and target responses to help ensure all women and girls can plan their future.”
Some of Organon’s educational initiatives will be distributed via online channels. For example, funding toward UNFPA’s safe delivery app will enhance the existing app’s design to make the content on family planning accessible in more than 100 languages and usable by healthcare workers in more than 40 countries.
It also will upgrade the app’s resources for real-time data and analytics on the needs in communities, which can be used by decision-makers to target SRH investments.
“This a global program reaching across over 13 counties (initially), the funding and collaborations are with local groups with each country and community to create programming that is a match for each country’s specific population and culture where the need is greatest,” the Organon spokesperson said.
“There is also a large focus on teens who are the most vulnerable due to the potential negative effects of unplanned pregnancy and lack of access. Our latest collaboration with UNFPA expands on many existing projects with Organon in specific countries, creating a comprehensive global project.”