Innovations

Quality-assured mifepristone as emergency contraception: A next generation option for an existing abortion pill

  Concept Foundation    Argentina, Ethiopia, Ghana, Netherlands, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, and Switzerland

Concept Foundation seeks to expand the regulatory pathway of mifepristone an as emergency contraceptive in low- and middle-income countries, exploring pathways to bring mifepristone as a quality-assured, low-cost, over the counter emergency contraceptive to market. Concept Foundation will prepare a data package to demonstrate mifepristone can be registered using existing evidence, supported by an advisory committee. Once the data package is finalized, Concept Foundation will meet with regulatory authorities and agencies to establish pathways to register mifepristone as a quality-assured emergency contraceptive product.

The investment case for a novel letrozole-misoprostol medical abortion combipack

  Concept Foundation     Switzerland

Concept Foundation aims to demonstrate if a quality assured letrozole and misoprostol regimen for MA will serve as an affordable alternative treatment to the existing MA regimens and will increase access to safe medical abortion in low- and middle-income country markets. Concept Foundation will establish an investment case, providing information for decision making towards product development for letrozole as an abortifacient with misoprostol.

Using a platform approach to provide access to safe abortion in Cameroon

  Women for a Change, Cameroon     Cameroon

Women for a Change will adapt the existing digital platform, Tiko, designed by Triggerise to connect women and girls in the Mfoundi department to safe abortion and SRH services and information. Trained peer mobilizers will conduct outreach to engage individuals seeking safe abortion and SRH information and services to assist in enrolling them onto the platform to access information and peer-rated service providers. The platform will connect users to a local provider for subsidized MA and MVA services, post-abortion care and contraception counselling. As users engage with the Tiko platform, they will generate anonymized and confidential data in real-time to introduce a behavioural nudge to motivate positive health-seeking behaviours.

Expanding Access to Abortion Along Key Migration Routes in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

  Ipas Mexico, A.C.      Mexico

Ipas Mexico aims to increase access to SRHR services and information and reduce the communication gap between migrants, civil society organizations, and governmental institutions through a free and confidential chatbot. An existing Spanish-enabled chatbot will be updated to include information catered specifically for migrants on SRHR, including safe abortion, gender-based violence, and a directory of health facilities, accompaniment groups and migrant-serving organizations where SRHR services can be availed. The digital tool will be designed, tested, and evaluated with the input and feedback of migrants, civil society organizations, and public health authorities.

Engaging doctors as agents of change to improve access to safe abortion in Mexico: an innovative network linking supportive physicians with acompañantes

  CONSORCIO DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE VIH SIDA TB CISIDAT, A.C.       Mexico

Innovator Story: From Stigma to Solidarity: A Journey in Transforming Abortion Care

CISIDAT will collaborate with investigators at ECOSUR and activists across Mexico to support the creation of the first nationwide network of female pro-choice physicians in Mexico, engaging them to de-medicalize abortion, enhance interactions with acompañantes, increase access to safe medical abortion, and reduce stigma. Virtual trainings targeting physicians will be conducted to increase awareness on abortion guidelines, local laws, self-managed abortion, de-medicalization of abortion and accompaniment models, as well as establishing goals for the network. In-person workshops for physicians and acompañantes will promote trust, exchange of information and experiences, and promote collaboration with acompañantes. The evidence generated will be shared through open access publications and a book, and will be used to refine and adapt the network and training model for continued expansion in Mexico, and ultimately in other Latin American countries.

Community Based Opportunity desk for Safe Pregnancy Termination services in Bangui

  Voix Pour Les Femmes d’Afrique Centrale (VPFAC)         Central African Republic

VPFAC aims to increase access to safe pregnancy termination information and services (MA and MVA), particularly for women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence. Nurses and midwives will be trained on safe pregnancy termination services, post abortion care and the legal framework governing pregnancy termination. The trained providers will be responsible for operating community-based opportunity desks (sites within existing clinical facilities) to provide safe pregnancy termination services, counselling, post pregnancy termination care and family planning services. Trained community health task force agents will provide education and outreach activities through village based mobile clinics. These activities will include 1:1 education sessions, workshops, community gatherings, and radio shows to raise awareness on available safe abortion services and the abortion legal framework, as well as to break stigma around pregnancy termination. 150 local leaders will also be engaged to support community awareness raising efforts.

Creating a Community Based Self Sustaining Ecosystem for Improving Abortion Access

  Greenstar Social Marketing Pakistan         Pakistan

Innovator Story: Pioneering Accessible SRHR in Pakistan 

Greenstar Social Marketing Pakistan aims to decentralize abortion care and create an enabling environment that is safe and accessible for clients through community health workers (Sitara Baji) houses – a designated confined home-based solution. The Sitara Baji’s home will be converted to a Sitara House and become a community health hub for women and girls. The Sitara Bajis will be recruited and trained to deliver a holistic self-care package, including medical abortion, family planning, menstrual health and hygiene, mental health awareness, breast self-examination and pregnancy testing. The homes will as well offer primary health education and screening (such as health communication materials, weighing scales, blood pressure monitors and pregnancy testing kits) and be stocked with misoprostol, emergency contraceptive pills, condoms and sanitary pads. Tablets with 24/7 connectivity to a physician will be provided to Sitara Bajis, in case needed to help guide misoprostol administration and education on self-care packages. Additionally, Sitara Bajis will engage in outreach activities with community members and stakeholders to increase awareness and generate trust.

Setting the stage for regional scaling up of medical abortion via telemedicine in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

  Reproductive Health Training Center           Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, and Moldova

Reproductive Health Training Center aims in the current project to conduct formative research to assess the feasibility of extending the use of telemedicine medical abortion services to five Eastern European countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan). The telemedicine model has been successfully implemented in Moldova and is now seeking scale-up and implementation in the surrounding countries to increase access for abortion services. Working groups in each country were formed and helped to identify and collect data from relevant stakeholders related to MA service delivery barriers and the potential for MA telemedicine provisions. The innovation is now in process to operationalize the provision of MA via telemedicine in Kyrgyzstan, one of the five target countries.

Accelerating abortion self-care through digital direct-to-consumer models

  Reproductive Health Network Kenya             Kenya

Reproductive Health Network Kenya, in partnership with Ipas Africa Alliance, seeks to build on the successes of the ‘Nurse Nisa’ digital application to upgrade the platforms to include three new features to increase access to medical abortion further.
1. Connecting users with qualified-service providers and pharmacists to provide online or in-person prescriptions offer electronic payment options and the ability to mail medical abortion drugs within a 24 hours dispatch period to clients.
2. Integrate the WHO gestational age calculator for pharmacists and clients to support the confirmation of gestational age and decision-making
3. Integrate a digital accompaniment tool to provide step-by-step information on medical abortion self-care administration and psychosocial support through personalized conversations.
The innovation is in partnership with Ipas Africa Alliance, the developers of the ‘Nurse Nisa’ platform.

Using Machine Learning to improve access to safe abortion services among vulnerable populations

  William J Clinton Foundation              India

Innovator Story: From Fear to Acceptance: Supporting Young Women’s Reproductive Choices in Rural India 

The William J Clinton Foundation seeks to reduce the incidence of unsafe abortions by equipping Community Health Workers – public sector Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) – with the tools to identify and target at-risk women to increase their awareness of safe abortion methods and SRH. To identify at-risk women, a risk tool powered by AI and data will be developed in partnership with Surgo Venture. ASHAs will be provided with a paper-based format of the tool to help them assess women in their catchment areas on abortion risk factors. Following the identification of women from high-risk segments, ASHAs will be trained to provide tailored messages, aided by printed IEC material, to address knowledge gaps and unsafe behaviours.

Sailing the Boat, Sailing the Hope: SRHR counseling and information

  OPTions 6           Indonesia

OPTions 6 addresses the challenge of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services for women and girls in remote islands of Indonesia. OPTions 6 conducts educational workshops for women and girls on sexual and reproductive health. OPTions 6 also trains healthcare and community health providers to involve in a referral system supported by their hotline. This referral system links girls and women to services including counseling on sexual and reproductive health care. In cases of emergency, women and girls can access transportation to primary healthcare facilities by a boat owned and managed by local community women.

Increasing early access to SRHR through rights-based user centred approaches at the community level

  The Population Council            Kenya

The Population Council’s innovation increases early access to quality sexual and reproductive health services and rights through rights-based user centered approaches at the community level.

Confidential

  SOLIDARITE DES JEUNES FILLES POUR L’EDUCATION ET L’INTEGRATION SOCIOPROFESSIONNELLE, SOJFEP             Democratic Republic of the Congo

Confidential innovation.

Advancing Community Based Access to safe abortion in urban slums, Nigeria

  OPTions 3             Nigeria

OPTions 3 decreases unsafe abortion for Adolescents Girls and Young Women (AGYW) in urban slums in Nigeria by engaging them in high-quality confidential peer counselling and increasing access to reproductive health services. OPTions 3 trains project operatives comprised of AGYW, female artisan clubs, shop owners, and female headed maternity homes to provide peer-to-peer counseling in dedicated safe spaces, as well as safe abortion and other reproductive health services. Working with public and private suppliers of abortion products and contraceptives, OPTions 3 strengthens community-wide capacity to stock and dispense these products. To ensure sustainability of the intervention and as an incentive to participate, OPTions 3 trains one in four project operatives in entrepreneurship and supports these individuals to operate as mobile money agents as a means of diversifying their revenue stream.

Developing new methods and devices for later abortion

  Consultants in Obstetric and Gynecologic Ultrasonography and Surgery, PLLC
Ethiopia, United States, and Mexico

The Dupont Clinic innovation evaluates three devices in different countries to improve the provision of later safe abortion. Three provider sites in Mexico, Ethiopia, and the United States will develop and implement these new methods: Lidocaine for fetal demise, DuPont Cannula, and a novel cervical dilation device. Patient and provider feedback will be provided by the sites, and will cover a range of facility sizes and patient populations. The combination of these technologies will make later abortion safer, simpler, and more feasible in most settings.

Improve health for ethnic minority women and girls through enabling access to safe, friendly abortion services at community level in Vietnam

  Microfinance and Community Development Institute               Vietnam

Microfinance and Community Development Institute (MACDI) implements community and school-based awareness campaigns and uses a new mobile app to increase women and girls’ knowledge and access to safe abortion in Vietnam. The mobile app will provide safe abortion information as well as chat-enabled safe abortion advice and referrals from health care experts. The app also integrates a micro-loan function for health-related purchases including safe abortion, health insurance and health examinations, and to enable access mobile phones. MACDI will also conduct training for health workers at both public and private health facilities.

Validation of a novel device for the provision of humane pain control during manual vacuum aspiration

  Nyanza Reproductive Health Society                 Kenya

Nyanza Reproductive Health Society’s innovation is a novel, reusable, low-cost syringe extension device (Chloe SED) that provides pain relief during Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA). This device enables the provision of local anesthesia to a woman’s uterus and cervix, and is easy to sterilize even in austere clinical settings. A trial with 210 women seeking MVA will determine whether the pain control from this device is better or equal to the currently used spinal needles. Women will be consulted when developing pain control protocols to ensure the product meets their needs and preferences.  Based on the results of the trial, the prototype will be refined in preparation for pre-market clearance and scale up.

Mobile Safe Abortion Care Clinic Project (MSACCP)

  LET US STAY ALIVE (LUSA)                 Democratic Republic of the Congo

Let Us Stay Alive (LUSA) uses a mobile clinic model to decentralize safe abortion care services for women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Working closely with partners including the Ministry of Health, LUSA trains community health workers, nurses and midwives to use cellular communication to refer women to one of the three mobile clinics. Women seeking an abortion schedule an appointment in a mobile clinic or in their homes. Women experiencing complications from unsafe abortion are transferred to health centers for care. Awareness of these services and safe abortion is raised through TV/radio campaigns and educational sessions.

Win-Win Innovation

  University of Nairobi                  Kenya

The Win-Win innovation assesses unproven herbal decoctions provided for abortion by traditional herbalists in Kenya to discover novel molecules that can potentially be developed into a next generation pregnancy termination medication. These herbal remedies, decoctions and their molecules, will be tested for their ability to induce safe abortion using an array of scientific methods, while comparing them to the performance of current abortion medications. To complement laboratory research, a behaviour change communication intervention will be implemented to educate women and girls in rural Kenya about the risks of using these decoctions while steering them towards safe and legal abortion care services. Herbalists are also sensitized to the potential harmful effects of their products and the need to refer clients to evidence-based abortion care.

Breaking The Cycle

  Fight AIDS Malawi (FAM)                 Malawi

Fight Aids Malawi (FAM) implements several approaches to expand and decentralize access to safe abortion services and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information for women and girls living in rural villages of Malawi. These include: 1) a new informational online interactive forum, 2) outreach clinic visits to villages and schools by trained health workers and peer counsellors, 3) community education initiatives which address abortion related stigma and ensure that the innovation’s progress is sustained, and 4) improvements to the capacity of rural health facilities through the provision of abortion service equipment as well as training in care provision and supply chain management. FAM will use the evidence generated from this project to advocate for increased resource allocation from local government for SRHR and safe abortion projects.

Increased access to safe abortion in Armenia

  Armavir Development Center                 Armenia

Armavir Development Center is developing a mobile application for all types of cell phones to provide individualized and confidential consultations for women in rural communities of Armenia seeking safe abortion. Through the app, women connect to a call center which links them to gynecologists for safe abortion care, psychologists for mental health support, and/or legal specialists for advice and assistance, depending on their needs. Women seeking an abortion have the choice of visiting a clinic or waiting for medical staff to visit their village. Doctors follow-up with patients through phone calls and the app to confirm the success of the abortion. The innovation will roll out in 100 rural communities and will reach women who were previously out of reach and underserviced.

Building a network of Solidary Pharmacists for safe abortion in rural communities of Oaxaca, Michoacán and Guerrero

  Fundación Mexicana para la Planeación Familiar, A.C. (Mexfam)               Mexique

Mexfam trains and sensitizes pharmacists in Oaxaca, Michoacán and Guerrero to be frontline providers of abortion care. The training program enables pharmacists to directly provide accurate information on the use of misoprostol for safe abortion and to improve attitudes towards women seeking abortions. To support women seeking these services, Mexfam trains women in the communities to be “companions” who accompany women to participating pharmacies. They provide information about safe abortion, in conjunction with youth peer educators who communicate anti-stigma messages throughout their communities, which increases awareness and demand for these services.

Community Self-managed menstrual regulation with pills in Sindh Pakistan

  Peace Foundation                Pakistan

Peace Foundation addresses the supply and demand of self-administered safe menstrual regulation options in 120 rural villages. To improve supply, Peace Foundation trains and equips sellers at sales outlets with medication, information, counselling aids, and referral mechanisms for safe menstrual regulation and self-injected methods for family planning. These outlets are established at grocery stores, women-run shops and by donkey cart vegetable sellers. Health service providers and pharmacists assist women and girls with more complicated cases referred by the sellers, and are also involved in improving the supply of medications to local chemist shops. Peace Foundation will simultaneously address demand by disseminating information on misoprostol to women and girls, sensitizing village leaders, and conducting edutainment activities.

Frontline actors initiative (FAI)

  Contact Trust Youth Association (CTYA)               Zambia

Innovator Stories: Mercy’s Journey of Resilience and Hope

Contact Trust Youth Association (CTYA)’s innovation increases knowledge and awareness of safe abortion services among 1500 adolescent girls and young women in 10 schools in rural Zambia. CTYA trains teachers to provide safe abortion information and to support pregnant students who choose to access safe abortion and counseling services by linking these students to CTYA’s helpline and to service providers. Additionally, CTYA trains pharmacists and health care providers to deliver adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. The ultimate goal is for wide scale integration of safe abortion teacher training into the Ministry of Education’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education curriculum.

Pilot End-to-End Referral System to Increase Female Migrant Workers’ Access to Comprehensive Abortion Care

  The Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand Under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother (PPAT)               Thailand

PPAT’s innovation establishes a community-based end-to-end referral system for comprehensive abortion care and other sexual and reproductive health services for female migrant workers in Thailand. This includes a hotline call center operating in three migrant languages for referrals to safe abortion care as well as roundtrip transportation services from the migrant sites to safe abortion clinics in Bangkok. After receiving abortion care, trained migrant community health volunteers and medical staff work together to follow up with the women and girls through a home visit or telephone calls. Additionally, an educational outreach program aims to dispel stigma and improve knowledge and awareness of safe abortion services amongst migrant worker communities.

The ‘SAFE NEST’ PROJECT- “Enabling Safe Self-Managed Abortion for Transgender Youth through facebook messenger bot”

  Women Promotion Centre                 Kenya

Women Promotion Centre uses technology to facilitate abortion service delivery for transgender youth. Through a secure online platform called Safe Nest, the innovation provides safe, non-judgmental, self-managed abortion services and information. Trained volunteer Trans* Connectors work hand-in-hand with service providers to create awareness and provide referrals and direct distribution of medical abortion medications. After youth’s self-managed abortion, medical personnel follow up with them remotely to ensure that the treatment was successful. Additionally, Trans* Connectors refer youth to trans youth-friendly providers of other reproductive health services.

Acompañando a las mujeres: legal and safe self-managed abortion

  FUNDACION PRO BIENESTAR SEXUAL Y REPRODUCTIVO (PROSER)               Colombia

PROSER will introduce the legal sale of mifepristone through pharmacies in 10 municipalities in central Colombia to provide a legal, affordable and safe option for self-managed abortion. The project is supported by a network of medical professionals who prescribe abortion medication (mifepristone/misoprostol) after a health risk assessment. With a prescription, women can access the medication at their local pharmacy in person or by delivery. After taking the medication, the doctor follows-up via telephone to verify the result of the treatment. Information on abortion care is also disseminated though educational materials, including information on this new option of legal self-managed abortion.

Induced Luteal Regression as a Novel Approach for Pregnancy Termination

  Oregon Health and Science University                      United States

Oregon Health and Science University seeks a novel medical abortifacient by identifying gene targets to block progesterone production during the first trimester. This will be conducted through database and laboratory research exploring existing medications which act on these targets. The ultimate goal of the project is to identify a new low-cost and accessible abortion method option.

“Las Warmis”: ICT and audio technology innovation to enhance women’s access to safe information on medical abortion

  Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres                  Peru

Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres (CLIM) de-stigmatizes and de-medicalizes access to safe abortion information in Peru by developing and testing a feminist audio collective focused on this topic. Women from local grassroots organizations will be trained in audio production content during seven-day audio collective workshops held in three regions. Additionally, CLIM will develop short testimony-based radionovelas, short audio messages and 30-minute talk show programmes. All recordings will be available on the internet and Spotify, and will be shared free-of-charge through WhatsApp and Telegram groups.

Medical abortion by telemedicine or standard care in South Africa: A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial 

  University of Cape Town                     South Africa

University of Cape Town is conducting a randomized clinical non-inferiority trial in South Africa to compare the efficacy, safety and acceptability of a telemedicine option for medical abortion to standard abortion care. Participants will be women requesting an abortion early in gestation. They will either receive standard care, which includes an ultrasound and in-person counselling, or telemedicine counselling through Women on Web´s online application SafeAbortion with no ultrasound provided. In both groups, the community health centers will provide the basic physical exam, the abortion medication, and the success of the abortion will be confirmed with a clinical symptom list and pregnancy test.

Medicinal Plants with Abortifacient Activity from Ayurvedic Medicine

   RoshniAgriBiotech                       India

RoshniAgriBiotech assesses medicinal plants used in India as traditional Ayurvedic medicine with potential to induce abortions. RoshniAgriBiotech will first review the literature to identify the medicinal plants. The use of these plants as abortifacients will be further assessed by interviewing folk medicine practitioners, and a shortlist of the five most promising candidates will be investigated. Standardized extracts of these plants will be assessed for their medicinal profile by using various laboratory techniques, and those showing potential abortifacient properties will be further tested. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a pill from medicinal plants that is scientifically validated, cost-effective and acceptable to marginalized rural women in India.

Opportunities and early access to abortion services in Profamilia, Colombia

  Asociación Pro-bienestar de la Familia Colombiana (Profamilia)                       Colombia

Profamilia uses the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s social franchise toolkit to improve access to safe abortion care for women in conflict-affected Colombia. This includes: (i) developing a quality-assured network of health care providers trained in medical abortion and manual vacuum aspiration, stigma reduction, and legal training; (ii) dissemination of information on safe abortion services amongst people in these communities; and (iii) community empowerment education activities.

At the Reach of Women

  Fundación Oriéntame                      Colombia

Innovator Story: Safe Abortion with Reach: How Telemedicine is transforming Reproductive Health in rural Colombia  

Fundación Oriéntame implements and tests a telemedicine service to provide access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including safe and legal medical abortion, for women and girls in remote areas of Colombia. This will be facilitated by a registered nurse based in a rural area of Colombia under the remote assistance of a physician from the Oriéntame Clinic. The nurse will use an information and communications technology platform to communicate with the physician, therefore meeting the local requirement that abortion medication be prescribed by a physician. In addition to medical abortion, the team will provide contraceptive counselling and screening for sexually transmitted infections.

CHOICE: Communicating to HER Options via Information, Care Coordination & Empathy

  DoctHERs                      Pakistan

doctHERs provides personalized information and guidance around safe abortion services to underserved women in Pakistan, including female factory workers across rural and peri-urban village communities. doctHERs will deploy trusted up-skilled frontline care coordinators, who will use tablets with 4G internet connectivity to connect with marginalized women and girls. The care coordinators will refer them to a nationwide network of established safe abortion providers and family planning services via HD video-consultation.

Addressing barriers to young people access to MR/PAC services and De-stigmatizing Uterine Evacuation/Post Abortion Care (PAC)

  Rahnuma – Family Planning Association of Pakistan                     Pakistan

Family Planning Association of Pakistan provides menstrual regulation and post-abortion care services to women and girls at five clinics in semi-urban areas of Pakistan and through monthly mobile camps. The clinics will provide safe uterine evacuation/post abortion care (PAC) services including counseling, medical and surgical uterine evacuation, treatment of complications, and post-abortion contraceptive services. To reduce stigma related to these services, service providers at the clinics and youth peer educators will be trained on value clarification and attitude transformation and de-stigmatization. The trained youth peer educators will then organize sensitization sessions with local youth and with community members.

Improving Access to Abortion in Georgia

  Center for Information and Counseling on Reproductive Health – Tanadgoma
   Georgia

Tanadgoma improves access to abortion for women in Georgia by implementing and testing a simplified one-visit service delivery model, as opposed to three visits typically required to have an abortion. The only visit to a health facility will be for pregnancy diagnosis and counselling. Meeting local legal requirements, five days later, the health provider will receive remote confirmation from the patient about whether they are still seeking an abortion. The provider will then mail medical abortion pills and two urine pregnancy tests to the patient. As such, the medical abortion can be self-administered, and the success can be confirmed without an in-person assessment.

Teenage and Youth Refugee’s Abortion Care Project

  Rwanda Youth Organization for Development                     Rwanda

Rwanda Youth Organization for Development provides friendly abortion care services for women and adolescents in five refugee camps in Rwanda. This will be facilitated through (i) focus groups on safe abortion, misoprostol, and contraceptive use; (ii) an android application, Menyapplication, to disseminate information on safe abortion and sexual and reproductive health and rights; (iii) a documentary film that will be developed and shown in the camps. Public boxes for access to misoprostol and contraceptives will be established across the camps. One camp with particularly high need will also receive monthly training on the clinical management of abortion complications.

Menstrual Regulation and Post Abortion Care on Outreach

  Marie Stopes International                   Bangladesh

Marie Stopes International (MSI) tests efforts to provide Menstrual Regulation (MR) services and post-abortion care through outreach programs across government Family Welfare Centers (FWCs) in three remote districts in Bangladesh. Trained MSI paramedics will rove between the centers to provide this care. Family Welfare Assistants will be trained on values clarification and outreach information provision, and providers at FWCs will be trained on the management of medical emergency cases that may arise. The paramedics will follow up with patients by phone and provide follow-up care at FWCs, including post-abortion family planning and cervical cancer screening to ensure comprehensive care.

Medical abortion via telemedicine for women and adolescents in rural Moldova: breaking barriers with technology

  Reproductive Health Training Center                  Moldova

Reproductive Health Training Center uses a novel service delivery model for women and girls in rural Moldova that allows self-management of medical abortion (MA) with remote guidance from a provider. Women seeking MA will receive counselling from an obstetrician/gynecologist via a videoconference and will subsequently obtain medication at a participating pharmacy. Follow-up to confirm MA success and assess satisfaction with the service will also be remote. Upon demonstrating the feasibility, effectiveness and acceptability of telemedicine MA services in Moldova, Reproductive Health Training Center will seek to integrate the model into the national public healthcare system.

Mifepristone 50 mg as a Contraceptive

  Women on Web                 Georgia

Women on Web International Foundation’s innovation is a non-inferiority clinical trial in Georgia, comparing the contraceptive use of weekly mifepristone with the daily use of desogestrel, an alternative non-estrogen contraceptive. The trial aims to establish the efficacy, safety and side-effects of mifepristone as a weekly contraceptive. The long-term goal of the innovation is to register and market mifepristone as a contraceptive and to have this indication included on the World Health Organization Essential Medicines List.

Novel mHealth solution for self-managed abortions for Venezuelan women

  Vitala Global Foundation               Venezuela

Vitala Global Foundation develops and tests an integrated mobile health tool that can facilitate self-management of medical abortion for Venezuelan women living in a fragile setting. The goal of this tool is to guide women through self-assessment of abortion eligibility and abortion success, send automatic text messages to provide support, and include information for referral clinics if needed. Following the principles of user-centered design, Vitala Global Foundation will (i) facilitate interviews with target beneficiaries, engage community-based organizations, abortion experts and mobile application developers; (ii) conduct usability testing for potential designs/prototypes; and (iii) conduct a study with Venezuelan women to evaluate the mobile tool.

HER VOICE: Augmenting vulnerable Kenyan girls and women with disability access to safe abortion services through a disability friendly mobile outreach model and home based support services

  Women Spaces Africa               Kenya

Innovator Story: Innovating Safe Abortion Access for Women with Disabilities

Women Spaces Africa develops and tests an outreach strategy that trains community health workers with disabilities in Nairobi to become peer educators. The peer educators will conduct community outreach and home visits to women and girls with disabilities and will engage the women and girls in training on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), specifically medical abortion. The training will also integrate economic empowerment skills, and group lending will be established to support income-generating activities. Furthermore, the women and girls with disabilities will design materials for a disability-friendly text hotline and braille educational communication materials on medical abortion and SRHR. These materials will be distributed to resource centers for people with disabilities, and health care providers will also be trained on disability-friendly medical abortion.

Missed Period Pill: Expanding access to fertility control in Senegal

  Gynuity              Senegal

Gynuity Health Projects explores the feasibility of and develops a strategy for a new user-controlled method to help women and girls manage missed menses. Gynuity will also explore the possibility of expanding access to combipacks through the indication of early pregnancy loss.

Mobile Connect – An integrated mHealth intervention to address unsafe abortion among female sex workers in Vietnam

  Center for Promotion of Advancement of Society             Vietnam

Center for Promotion of Advancement of Society delivers sexual reproductive health education to female sex workers in Vietnam using technology and by delivering peer-provided services. Mobile Connect, will provide interactive short messaging services (SMS) and tele-counseling to share information on unwanted pregnancy, safe abortion, stigma reduction, and safe services. Trained peer educators will provide the women interested in participating with education, counseling and referrals to specialist abortion services when needed. Center for Promotion of Advancement of Society will also develop and test digital counseling tools for providers to deliver friendly abortion care.

Development of new abortion medications by using existing medications in new ways

  Gynuity            United-States​

Gynuity Health Projects assesses existing medications to identify alternative safe and effective abortifacients. Gynuity will conduct a comprehensive literature review of each medication to assess the potential effectiveness, the possible barriers to development and the likelihood to fill market gaps. In consultation with an advisory group, Gynuity will then conduct a preliminary dosing and safety study with the most promising candidate.