The Role of Public-Private Partnerships to Increase Access to Contraception in an Emergency Response Setting: The Zika Contraception Access Network Program

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Lisa Romero, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Zipatly V. Mendoza, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Laura Croft, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Reema Bhakta, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Turqouise Sidibe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Nabal Bracero, Puerto Rico Obstetrics and Gynecology; Claritsa Malave, Health Resources and Services Administration; Alicia Suarez, Puerto Rico Primary Care Association; Linette Sanchez, Puerto Rico Obstetrics and Gynecology; Darielys Cordero, Puerto Rico Primary Care Association; Eva Lathrop, Emory University; Judith Monroe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-11-01
• Publisher: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: 2020
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2020.8813
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF WOMENS HEALTH
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 1372
• End Page: 1380
• Grant/Funding Information: The Zika Contraception Access Network program was funded by the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Inc. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation). Funding for the Zika Contraception Access Network program was made possible through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Pfizer Foundation, and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation also secured large-scale donations, offers of contraceptive products, support tools, and services from Bayer, Allergan, Medicines360, Americares and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck and Co., Inc., Mylan, The Pfizer Foundation, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Church and Dwight Co., Inc., RB, Power to Decide (formerly The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy), Upstream USA, and Market Vision, Culture Inspired Marketing.
• Keywords: Science & Technology; PUERTO-RICO; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Medicine, General & Internal; Obstetrics & Gynecology; VIRUS-DISEASE; Social Sciences; General & Internal Medicine; emergency response; private partnership; Women's Studies; OUTBREAK; REMOVAL; public– contraception; STRATEGIES; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Zika; QUALITY
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

The Zika Contraception Access Network (Z-CAN) program was a short-Term emergency response intervention that used contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies to reduce Zika-related adverse birth outcomes during the 2016-2017 Zika virus outbreak in Puerto Rico. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that a collaborative and coordinated response was needed from governments and private-sector partners to improve access to contraception during the Zika outbreak in Puerto Rico. In response, the National Foundation for the CDC, with technical assistance from CDC, established the Z-CAN program, a network of 153-Trained physicians, that provided client-centered contraceptive counseling and same-day access to the full range of the Food and Drug Administration-Approved reversible contraceptive methods at no cost for women who chose to prevent pregnancy. From May 2016 to September 2017, 29,221 women received Z-CAN services. Through Z-CAN, public-private partnerships provided a broad range of opportunities for partners to come together to leverage technical expertise, experience, and resources to remove barriers to access contraception that neither the public nor the private sector could address alone. Public-private partnerships focused on three areas: (1) the coordination of efforts among federal and territorial agencies to align strategies, leverage resources, and address sustainability; (2) the mobilization of private partnerships to secure resources from private corporations, domestic philanthropic organizations, and nonprofit organizations for contraceptive methods, physician reimbursement, training and proctoring resources, infrastructure costs, and a health communications campaign; and (3) the engagement of key stakeholders to understand context and need, and to identify strategies to reach the target population. Public-private partnerships provided expertise, support, and awareness, and could be used to help guide programs to other settings for which access to contraception could improve health outcomes.