Online Resource Helps Clear Up Confusion About Hormone Therapy; ARHP Launches Resource Center For Media, Healthcare Providers, Public

8/15/2002

From: Sean C. Prichard of the Associaton of Reproductive Health Professionals, 202-466-3825, e-mail: sprichard@arhp.org, Web Site: http://www.arhp.org

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 -- The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP), an education association representing leading healthcare providers, researchers, and educators in the field, has launched an online hormone therapy resource center for the media, healthcare providers and the public. The web site includes information about hormone therapy, answers to commonly asked questions, links and responses to the WHI and HERS II studies, comprehensive and continually updated links to relevant organizations and articles, a guide to complementary and alternative therapies, and the opportunity to submit questions to clinical experts online. ARHP's Hormone Therapy Resource Center can be accessed at http://www.arhp.org/hrtresources/.

"This Resource Center is an excellent tool for addressing and clarifying patient and provider concerns regarding HRT," says Andrew M. Kaunitz, MD, professor, department of Ob/Gyn at the University of Florida Health Science Center / Jacksonville and co-principle investigator for the University of Florida Jacksonville site of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), and former ARHP board chair. "The sudden discontinuation of one of the WHI clinic trials involving HRT has caused unnecessary anxiety and panic among the public and uncertainty among healthcare providers. ARHP's Hormone Therapy Resource Center helps us make sense of it all by providing comprehensive and accurate information while monitoring the latest developments in the news."

ARHP's Hormone Therapy Resource Center was created in response to the discontinuation of the WHI study to guide healthcare providers, the media, and the general public through the vast array of hormone therapy resources on the web. The Resource Center is divided into special sections for healthcare providers and for patients, with a third section featuring general information and links to many additional resources. The center also offers information about complementary and alternative treatments, and is updated daily to include the latest news about hormone therapy. ARHP's Hormone Therapy Resource Center was made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

ARHP will also be sponsoring Women's Health During Perimenopause and Beyond, the latest in a series of highly-respected clinical conferences on women in their second half of life, first launched by ARHP in 1989. This one-day preconference, scheduled for September 11th in Denver, will feature presentations on alternatives to hormone therapy, HRT management, and female sexual dysfunction. Women's Health During Perimenopause and Beyond is immediately followed by ARHP's three-day annual clinical conference. For a press pass or more information about ARHP's meeting, contact Sean Prichard, director of communications, at 202-466-3825 or e-mail communications@arhp.org.

ARHP is multidisciplinary association composed of professionals who provide reproductive health services or education, conduct reproductive health research, or influence reproductive health policy. ARHP, founded in 1963, has a mission to educate health care professionals, public policy makers, and the public. The organization fosters research and advocacy to promote reproductive health.