Last month, in “Hot Summer Threatens Efficacy of Mail-Order Medications,” New York Times writer Emily Baumgaertner looked at how extreme temperatures have been impacting prescriptions shipped in the U.S. But she also observed, of course, that “global temperatures have risen.” On World Contraception Day, let’s consider the international implications of the climate crisis on medications and medical devices traveling great distances to reach the people who need them.
Contraceptives are among the medications potentially affected by extreme heat. This could exacerbate ramifications of environmental disasters on access to sexual and reproductive health care, with “climate shocks,” like flooding in Sudan and Pakistan, already hampering supply chains.
Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately impacted by climate change, and many in these countries have called for more contraceptive choices, including methods that don’t need to be taken or sourced as frequently and that rely less on health systems. Among the exciting innovations on the horizon, self-injectables that work for six months instead of the current standard of three and biodegradable implants that can eliminate the need for removal could help address climate-compounded barriers to access.
Baumgaertner spotlights how overheated supply chains fail U.S. patients, including those calling for solutions and voicing preferences for how to receive their prescriptions in light of the extreme temperatures they know could damage their medication. Within contraceptive R&D, innovators can help address such failures on a global scale by developing products that respond to patient preferences, including resilience to disaster. In a world threatened by climate crisis and the conflicts it sponsors, we need more innovation centering people’s needs and desires.
For more reading on this and related topics:
"Extreme heat could impact the effectiveness of birth control and pregnancy tests" (Shefali Luthra, The 19th)
“How Drought Impacts Women’s Reproductive Choices: Insights from Seventeen Countries” (Oluwaseyi Somefun, Institute of Child Health, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; Bolade Hamed Banougnin, United Nations Population Fund, West and Central Africa Regional Office; Emily Smith-Greenaway, University of Southern California, Sociology, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
"Heatwaves and hormones: How climate change is taking a toll on women’s menstruation cycles” (Aleezeh Fatimah, Dawn)
“Expecting worse: Giving birth on a planet in crisis” (authors at The Grist, Vox, The 19th)
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