On the occasion of World Contraception Day 2021, Bayer and key organizations in the region co-hosted an Asia Pacific virtual roundtable titled “Take Control: Shaping Digital Health for Women in the Covid Decade” on September 24.
The event, highlighted by three panels, unveiled the impact of Covid-19 on women’s access to healthcare, and emphasized the crucial role digital technology and collaboration play in shaping an empowered future for women’s health and family planning.
In the first panel themed “No Woman Left Behind: Covid-19 and Unplanned Pregnancies,” Dr. Jameel Zamir, Director of Program and Performance, East South East Asia and Oceania Region, Malaysia, International Planned Parenthood Federation, said the outbreak has made it harder for women to receive family planning information, access to medical facilities, physicians and medication due to movement restrictions, and get health services up and running again.
Meanwhile, Bayer has set up ambitious sustainable goal of providing 100 million women in low- and middle-income countries with access to modern contraception by 2030, added Dr. Shivani Kapur from Bayer.
The second panel “Step Into Her World: Engaging to Empower Online” discussed key drivers of misinformation on family planning and contraception online, the need for credible voices on popular platforms and the importance of sustained dialogue.
The final panel titled “The New Physical: Innovating Expanded Access To Women’s Health” focused on technology as a key to recovering health system, helping women expand their access to healthcare and family planning solutions.
According to Dr. Shivani Kapur from Bayer, “Multi-stakeholder collaboration and digital innovation are critical in supporting family planning with undisrupted access to contraceptives, as well as increasing knowledge on women’s health, family planning and contraception.”
Locally, Bayer Vietnam in collaboration with the General Office for Population and Family Planning (GOPFP) has organized a virtual seminar promoting the message “Live Your Life, Lead Your Future.” This activity also marks the 5th year partnership between Bayer Vietnam and the GOPFP in the “Family Planning Communication Program for Public Health” initiative with the aim to enhance Vietnamese women on proper reproductive healthcare and family planning. Following the success of phase one from 2017 to 2020, the 2021-2025 plan reflects Bayer’s ongoing support for national programs that promote awareness of family planning, arising from many years of experience as a market leader in oral contraceptive pills.
Throughout the coming five years of the second phase of “Family Planning Communication Program for Public Health,” Bayer Vietnam and the GOPFP will pool their resources and relevant expertise to pursue the three following goals: help women make informed decisions about their pregnancy for a better future; help women avoid obstetric complications for better health; and help women prevent unwanted pregnancies, to improve their family and career life.
The company has also developed a video (https://fb.watch/8h57apREvE/) which features all around the world Youths, Youth advocates, NGOs, health organizations, politicians, journalists, teachers, doctors and parents all engage in a dialogue centered on family planning and sexual health.
