New "safer sex initiative" stresses "it takes two"
Contraceptive Technology Update 15(11): 146-151
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0274-726X PMID: 12289956 Document Number: 291333
Until very recently, no major manufacturer of oral contraceptives was willing to provide concrete education about STDs. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories recently launched its Nordette Safer Sex Initiative: a pouch containing a pack of Nordette pills, illustrated educational materials about oral contraceptives including health benefits and use instructions, instructions for protection against sexually transmitted diseases (STD), a sample Ramses condom from Schmid Laboratories, and a discount coupon toward future condom purchases. Ortho subsequently released a patient education program/package including a Lifestyles condom. This latter kit includes self-assessment questionnaires designed to help women rate their risk for STDs, and videotapes for both the patient and the provider. The kit is a box containing the sample condom, a pack of pills, a reference card to explain start dates, a question and answer booklet, and an audiocassette describing how the pill works. These collaborative programs between oral contraceptive manufacturers and condom manufacturers is welcomed as a real breakthrough by numerous reproductive health organizations and providers. The Wyeth program is actually a pilot program offered to 16,000 office-based obstetrician/gynecologists, but it is being considered for distribution to federally-funded clinics. For its part, the entire Ortho kit is available only to physicians, but the company is offering some of the material free to federally-funded clinics.