Surgeon General of the United States Comments on Family Planning Summit in London

NEW YORK, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Joycelyn Elders, 15th Surgeon General of the United States said, "The London Summit to Revitalize Family Planning promises to be one of the most important efforts in recent history to improve the education, health and lives of poor women and girls." She further commented, "VCF Contraceptive Film, a safe, easy-to-use effective contraceptive, should be considered as one method of affordable birth control to offer to women around the world. VCF has been used by women throughout the United States for many years with great success for birth control."

According to a new report from Save the Children, pregnancy is currently the biggest killer of teenage girls worldwide, with one million young women dying or suffering injury, infection or disease due to pregnancy or childbirth every year.

The report reveals that girls under 15 are five times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than women in their 20s, while babies born to younger mothers are also at far greater risk. Nearly a million babies born to adolescent mothers die every year.

According to the manufacturer of VCF, Apothecus Pharmaceutical, CEO Dan Leon, commented, "VCF has distributed hundreds of millions of contraceptive films with incredible results, sustaining high levels of user loyalty through our clinics and retail stores."  Mr. Leon further commented that, "VCF would be a welcomed addition to the worldwide contraceptive arsenal to be distributed to underprivileged women around the world. We would welcome the opportunity to work with the Gates Foundation or any other foundation that promotes women's health care issues worldwide."

For decades, non-profit health clinics throughout the United States have been educating women on the advantages of VCF, and have made this non-prescription birth control method available to their patients. VCF definitely has its advantages, given that it is hormone free. It provides protection without the side effects normally associated with prescription birth control methods. VCF is ideal for women who can't afford medical care and must rely on themselves to be vigilant about using contraception.  Health professionals believe that VCF is an important and safe method in helping to reduce the unwanted pregnancy epidemic that exists today.