Monastersky Nicole, Landau Sharon Cohen
Pharmacy Access Partnership, Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA, USA.
J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2006 Jan-Feb;46(1):84-8. doi: 10.1331/154434506775268553.
To increase community pharmacists' awareness about issues related to the provision of emergency contraception (EC) to women by describing pharmacist outreach and training programs and discussing pharmacy access and stocking issues, California's EC Pharmacy Program, methods for raising pharmacists' awareness, and professional development opportunities.
EC is both safe and effective in reducing the risk of unintended pregnancy after unprotected intercourse, yet awareness of and demand for the medication has not been high, and it often is not stocked in pharmacies. Various advocacy organizations have engaged in educating the public and physicians about EC, but relatively little attention and few resources have been targeted to ensure that the pharmacy community is aware of and educated about EC. Increased visibility and access to EC in the several states that allow pharmacists to provide EC directly to women have resulted from the active participation and leadership of pharmacists. In these states, women are showing interest in and receptivity to reproductive health services provided by pharmacists. In California, some 3000 pharmacists statewide have completed training, and in 2004 they provided EC directly to approximately 175,000 women. Pharmacists who provide EC overwhelmingly (91%) report that they do so because they see it as an important community service, and many (57%) recognize the opportunity for professional development.
Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to improve access to EC, and leadership within the pharmacy community can facilitate efforts to improve access. Increased education and training of pharmacists about EC--such as continuing education programs available online at www.pharmacyaccess. learnsomething.com--are critical to ensure not only that EC is available in pharmacies but also that pharmacists are engaged in meeting the reproductive health needs of women. Increased access to EC can expand pharmacists' role in health care provision. State-specific information about EC pharmacy access initiatives is available on the Web at www.GO2EC.org.
通过描述药剂师外展和培训项目、讨论药房获取和储备问题、加利福尼亚州的紧急避孕药房项目、提高药剂师意识的方法以及专业发展机会，提高社区药剂师对为女性提供紧急避孕相关问题的认识。
紧急避孕在降低无保护性交后意外怀孕风险方面既安全又有效，但对该药物的认识和需求一直不高，而且药房通常不备有此药。各种倡导组织致力于向公众和医生宣传紧急避孕，但相对而言，针对确保药房界了解并接受紧急避孕的关注和资源较少。在允许药剂师直接向女性提供紧急避孕的几个州，由于药剂师的积极参与和引领，紧急避孕的可见度和可及性有所提高。在这些州，女性对药剂师提供的生殖健康服务表现出兴趣并乐于接受。在加利福尼亚州，全州约3000名药剂师已完成培训，2004年他们直接为约17.5万名女性提供了紧急避孕。提供紧急避孕的药剂师绝大多数（91%）报告称，他们这样做是因为将其视为一项重要的社区服务，许多人（57%）认识到这是一个专业发展机会。
药剂师在改善紧急避孕的可及性方面具有独特地位，药房界的引领能够推动改善可及性的努力。增加对药剂师的紧急避孕教育和培训——比如可在www.pharmacyaccess. learnsomething.com在线获取的继续教育项目——不仅对于确保药房备有紧急避孕至关重要，而且对于促使药剂师满足女性的生殖健康需求也至关重要。增加紧急避孕的可及性能够扩大药剂师在医疗保健提供方面的作用。有关紧急避孕药房获取倡议的各州具体信息可在www.GO2EC.org网站上获取。
