Together for Health Joins with Bayer Schering in Training Initiative to Counter Contraceptive Myths Using “Evidence-Based Medicine”

Kyiv, Ukraine – The USAID-funded Together for Health (TfH) project, managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. in collaboration with the Academy for Educational Development, co-hosted with Bayer Schering Pharma (BSP) two innovative “evidence-based medicine” (EBM) workshops in late June. During the workshops, BSP medical representatives and key medical opinion leaders were trained on how to address misconceptions around hormonal contraceptives by using evidence-based medical information. Bayer Schering Pharma, a world-leading contraceptive manufacturer and the contraceptive market leader in Ukraine, was the first pharmaceutical company to introduce the EBM paradigm to its medical detailing team and influential Ukrainian physicians who help shape national opinions around contraception. BSP medical representatives, medical trainers and key opinion leaders learned how to convey EBM information during promotional visits, medical roundtables, and seminars for health professionals, particularly when focusing on controversial issues surrounding the use of hormone-based oral contraceptives.

Both workshops focused on providing participants with the information and skills necessary to respond to the most common myths about hormonal contraception, myths that are still widespread among Ukrainian medical professionals. The expectation is that the knowledge and skills gained by BSP representatives during the workshops will help to reinforce the messages provided through TfH’s clinical training program by bringing international, evidence-based contraceptive updates to health professionals working outside of TfH’s 13 target oblasts. Pharmaceutical company representatives provide medical information to thousands of doctors each year, reinforcing many of the key messages delivered to health professionals in TfH’s clinical training program.

As part of the workshops, TfH provided participants with a set of one-page Critically Appraised Topics (CATs) on controversial issues concerning hormonal contraception. The CATs addressed the perceived negative associations between the use of oral contraception and various cancers as well as positive associations between oral contraceptive use and non-contraceptive benefits such as the mitigation of acne or hirsutism. EBM methodologists at the National Medical Academy for Postgraduate Education in Kiev developed the CATs with training and support provided by TfH consultants Dr. Fred Tudiver, Director of the International Center for EBM at East Tennessee State University, and Michael Thomas, a seasoned pharmaceutical industry expert. Bayer Schering Pharma provided funding for these innovative workshops in the framework of the Public-Private Partnership agreement concluded between the project, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and seven private sector partners in 2006.

For more information, please contact Sarah Laaff at sarah_laaff@jsi.com.