Achievements
Since 2003, Gynuity has made great strides, remaining true to its vision and mission. We are proud of our achievements during our quarter century working to strengthen reproductive and maternal health care access. We share some highlights.
Expanded use of medication abortion pills
Completed seminal clinical research demonstrating that medication abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol is safe, effective and desirable to women, ultimately paving the way for greater access to care in many countries around the world
Translated science into clinical policy
Conducted implementation research and translated findings into professional guidelines later adopted by international health agencies and national health ministries promoting new models of care, such as task sharing for first- and second-trimester medication abortion and for postpartum hemorrhage management
Informed drug registration processes
Provided data for applications to regulatory agencies globally, enabling commercial entities to register and label medicines for reproductive health uses
Conducted seminal research on misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage
Designed and implemented large-scale clinical and community-based studies showing that the inexpensive and heat-stable medication, misoprostol, is safe and effective and a reasonable alternative to oxytocin for managing excessive bleeding at delivery and immediately after childbirth
Developed medication abortion telemedicine service delivery model
Created the TelAbortion Project, a U.S. study allowing women in some states to access medication abortion via remote counselling and delivery of the medication by mail. The knowledge and experience accumulated over the years has allowed us to become a leading provider of technical expertise in this method of service delivery
Studied and promoted low-tech non-surgical postabortion care
Filled critical gaps in evidence to demonstrate that the widely available pill, misoprostol, can replace surgery for postabortion care (e.g. spontaneous miscarriage, incomplete abortion or postabortion complications)
Advocated for access to essential medicines
Applied for and obtained World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List approvals for three misoprostol indications: incomplete abortion, postpartum hemorrhage prevention and postpartum hemorrhage treatment
Evaluated low-tech screening, diagnostic and treatment tools
Developed evidence to understand the role of promising low-tech tools, such as use of urine multi-level pregnancy tests for medication abortion follow-up at home; Congo red point-of-care test for early identification of preeclampsia; and condom uterine balloon tamponade for managing uncontrolled excessive bleeding after childbirth
Demonstrated the possibility of simplified care for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy
Generated evidence for simpler ways to treat severe hypertension in pregnancy by demonstrating the safe and effective role for oral anti-hypertensive drugs, an approach that may facilitate care in settings lacking intravenous administration options and careful fetal monitoring
Validated ways to increase contraceptive access after medication abortion
Demonstrated that contraceptive injectables and implants can be “quickstarted” at the initial medication abortion visit, eliminating the need for a return visit and reducing exposure to unwanted pregnancy
Filled evidence gaps around safety of mifepristone
Developed evidence to respond to concerns around the safety of mifepristone medication abortion following a series of fatal clostridia bacterial infections, which showed that presence of clostridia bacteria is rare and transient in the vagina and rectum, and risk of infection is not increased due to medication abortion
Convened and coordinated advocacy actions to protect mifepristone in the United States
Established the Mifepristone Coalition bringing together more than 150 organizations and 360 individuals working in concert to increase access to mifepristone medication abortion in the U.S. We heightened awareness of the Food and Drug Adminstration's REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) and the barriers it creates for access
Established a working group on period pills in the United States
Advanced the concept of 'period pills' by harvesting the knowledge and skills of experts via a working group. This service option may be helpful to people with missed periods who do not desire pregnancy confirmation before taking medications that might disrupt a pregnancy and is now offered by U.S. provider organisations
Promoted reduced reliance on routine tests for medication abortion
Led the development of a sample protocol for providing medication abortion without routine facility-based tests either before or after treatment and undertook research showing that ultrasound or pelvic examination are usually unnecessary for medication abortion
Demonstrated the potential of a new regimen for medication abortion
Established proof of concept for ulipristal acetate in combination with misoprostol for early pregnancy termination, the result of a project to address the gap in number and type of safe abortion products