Pharmacist interest in and attitudes toward direct pharmacy access to hormonal contraception in the United States.

Objectives: To assess pharmacist interest, comfort level, and perceived barriers regarding providing pharmacist-initiated access to hormonal contraceptives (i.e., tablets, patches, rings, injectables, emergency contraception [EC]).

Bringing emergency contraception to American women: the history and remaining challenges.

Emergency contraception has been called "America's best-kept secret." This article chronicles what it took to move it from secret to the pharmacy shelf. The fact that an emergency contraception product is available today in many pharmacies is indeed a major accomplishment.

Socioeconomic disparities in health in the US: an agenda for action.

Inequality of income and wealth in the US has been growing rapidly since 1972. Evidence of socioeconomic effects on health is documented for many endpoints, and there is evidence that socioeconomic disparities in health are increasing. In Europe, equity in health and health care is a target of the World Health Organization, and has led to a variety of activities to reduce socioeconomic disparities in morbidity and mortality.

Women's experience and satisfaction with emergency contraception.

Context: If any new contraceptive technology is to become a viable option for decreasing unintended pregnancies, women must be willing to use the method and find it acceptable. However, because emergency contraceptive pills have not been widely used, very little is known about this method's acceptability.

Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with 235 women who had received emergency contraceptive pills through a demonstration project at 13 Kaiser Permanente medical offices in San Diego to assess women's experience and satisfaction with the pills.

Transforming aids prevention to meet women's needs: a focus on developing countries.

As currently conceived, the global AIDS prevention strategy consists primarily of three interrelated tactics: (1) encouraging people to reduce their number of sexual partners; (2) promoting the widespread use of condoms; and (3) treating concurrent STDs in populations at risk of HIV. This three-pronged attack, however, is inadequate for meeting the protection needs of many of the world's women. Disproportionately poor and with little power to negotiate the terms of sexual encounters, women often cannot avail themselves of these life-saving strategies.

Violence against women: a neglected public health issue in less developed countries.

Violence against women is a significant public health issue in countries of both the industrialized and less developed world. This paper describes the magnitude and health consequences of domestic violence and rape, with an emphasis on developing countries; it recognizes, however, that there is a dearth of documentation regarding the wide range of activity opposing violence against women which is taking place in less developed countries. It briefly explores the factors that perpetuate violence against women and the strategies that have evolved to respond to the problem.