Pro Mujer, a social enterprise with more than 33 years of experience working to advance gender equality in Latin America, and MSD, a premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases, recently launched a digital tool focused on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
This collaboration seeks to reduce maternal mortality rates, as estimates show that from 2002-2019, more than 19,800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth in Mexico (Ipas, 2021).
The project seeks to understand the impact of gender-based violence on high maternal mortality rates, support the full exercise of women’s sexual and reproductive rights using digital tools, strengthen the capacity of local sexual and reproductive health and rights organizations, and increase the number of women receiving quality care by providing training for more than 2,000 health professionals.
As part of the first stage of this collaboration, Pro Mujer and MSD launched a sexual and reproductive health educational chatbot that will provide more than 3,000 women in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Hidalgo with valuable information on sexual and reproductive rights, family planning, and gender-based violence. Women can access the chatbot via WhatsApp and Messenger. Women who use the chatbot will also be offered a free family planning session at a Pro Mujer clinic.
Pro Mujer also launched a website where women can access a wide range of educational content focused on sexual and reproductive rights.
Working with Community Health Workers, this initiative will reach underserved women in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Hidalgo.
This significant achievement was announced by Pro Mujer during the Clinton Global Initiative September 2023 meeting, an initiative founded in 2005 by former President Bill Clinton that brings together established and emerging global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing issues.
At the event, Pro Mujer announced a Commitment to Action focused on ensuring health equity and improving the sexual and reproductive health of women in Mexico and Central America. As part of this commitment, Pro Mujer will expand its sexual and reproductive health services to impact more than 70,000 women and their families in Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
To accomplish this, Pro Mujer will launch its Community Health Workers program in each of these countries, providing access to information, comprehensive sexuality education, and tools to support women’s family planning objectives by combining in-person support with digital tools like the sexual and reproductive health chatbot.
