The Female Condom: Accelerating Access & Use: Online Discussion Forum, October 26 - November 22, 2005

This online forum follows a Global Consultation on the Female Condom, held September 26-29, 2005 in Baltimore, MD. This consultation brought together experts from international agencies, WHO/UNFPA/UNAIDS, international and local organizations, research institutes, country programme and manufacturers to review evidence of the female condom's effectiveness in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and to learn about country program experiences. The consultation developed a Plan of Action for moving forward to accelerate access to and use of the female condom in developing countries. Discussion on the forum will follow the themes addressed at the consultation and will extend this discourse to a broader global community.  (For further information about the meeting refer to: http://www.path.org/news/pr-051014-gcfc.php.  Meeting presentations: http://www.path.org/projects/womans_condom_gcfc2005.php.

The online forum will be cosponsored by PATH, WHO/RHR and The INFO Project (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs) and supported by the experts attending the Global Consultation. The forum will be held within the Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Electronic Communication System (ECS). This online system is very easy to use, already includes over 100 different communities and over 2,600 individual members. The ECS "Global Community" serves all 2,600+ members and features a weekly newsletter, information on new publications, a calendar of events, and other features. The web address is www.ibpinitiative.org. 

Audience for this forum: donors, researchers, women's health advocates, program planners, product procurement specialists, and ministry of health officials.
 
To focus the discussions we have planned four different discussion themes - one for each week: 

Week 1: 26 October - 1st November - Sharing Country Experiences with the Female Condom 

Week 2: 2nd November - 8th November - Current Status of Research Findings 

Week 3:  9th November - 15 November - New products under development 

Week 4: 16th November - 22nd November - Expanding access and use 

How to participate:

TO SIGN UP FOR THE ON-LINE DISCUSSION FORUM SEND AN EMAIL TO: [log in to unmask] with "female condom" in the subject line.  

Please include in your e-mail: 

1.  your given name and surname

2.  the organization where you work

3.  the country where you work
 

You will become a member of the ECS "Global Community" and the "Female Condom" community. 

Membership is free and can continue beyond the forum end date.  

Once a member, you can also request membership in other IBP/ECS communities.

Once we receive your email we will send you an email explaining how the On-Line Discussion Forum will work and how to use the ECS. 

 If at any time you have a problem email us at [log in to unmask]
 

We look forward to a stimulating and useful discussion. Please join us to share your own country-based experiences, to find out about new products and current research.

Peggy D'Adamo
for INFO, PATH and IBP


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