“If a woman is doing well, so does her family.”
This message anchored the HER Health Forum 2026, organized by Organon Philippines, where healthcare leaders and specialists gathered to reframe oral contraceptives, not just as tools for preventing pregnancy, but as essential to women’s health across life stages.
Built around the theme “Her Future, Her Flow: The Role of Oral Contraceptives in Supporting Women Through Life’s Milestones,” the forum introduced the HER framework, Hormonal Empowerment and Resilience. The approach centers on three pillars: strengthening hormonal health, enabling informed decision-making, and supporting women through key life transitions.
Beyond contraception: expanding the role of the pill
A key takeaway from the forum was clear: oral contraceptives are no longer defined by a single purpose.
According to Dr. Maris Yap Garcia, assistant professor at St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine and reproductive medicine specialist, oral contraceptives should be viewed through a broader clinical lens. “There is power in the pill,” she said, pointing to its role in supporting the management of various women’s health conditions, in addition to pregnancy prevention.
She also highlighted persistent gaps in reproductive health in the Philippines, including high rates of unintended pregnancy, stigma around contraceptive use, and reliance on less effective traditional methods. Addressing these, she emphasized, requires patient-centered care, particularly for younger women who expect shared decision-making.
“Contraceptive effectiveness in real-world settings is influenced by several factors, including appropriate method selection, patient preferences, access to counseling, and the ability to use a method correctly and consistently,” she noted, underscoring the importance of individualized care and informed decision-making.
Personalized care and balancing risks
The need for individualized care was echoed by Dr. Punkavee Tuntiviriyapun of Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine, who discussed the use of oral contraceptives for cycle control, particularly among patients with PCOS who also require contraception.
Rather than focusing solely on when to prescribe contraceptives, he urged clinicians to understand why they work, highlighting their ability to regulate hormones and support appropriate management strategies based on individual patient needs.
At the same time, he stressed that no single formulation fits all. “There is no perfect pill,” he said, pointing to the importance of balancing therapeutic benefits with safety considerations, particularly the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).
His approach centers on assessing individual risk factors such as age, smoking status, obesity, and medical history, to guide treatment decisions. In practice, this means weighing potential benefits and risks based on each patient’s clinical profile.
Addressing a critical transition: perimenopause
The forum also brought attention to perimenopause, a stage often overlooked in reproductive health discussions.
For Dr. Eileen Manalo, professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and a leader in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, this phase presents a “double burden”: declining fertility alongside ongoing pregnancy risk and worsening symptoms.
“Women are in a transition where they are less likely to conceive, but not immune to pregnancy,” she explained, noting the increased risks of unintended pregnancy and maternal complications in women over 40.
Combined oral contraceptives (COCs), she said, offer a practical option for appropriately selected patients by addressing both contraceptive needs and certain symptoms associated with the perimenopausal transition. These may include cycle regulation and management of bothersome symptoms, subject to individual clinical assessment.
She also emphasized the importance of careful patient selection and risk assessment when considering treatment options. As with any medical intervention, oral contraceptives have benefits and risks that should be discussed between patients and their healthcare providers.
Supporting informed conversations
Across sessions, speakers underscored the importance of improving reproductive health literacy and supporting informed conversations between women and their healthcare providers.
Persistent myths, from fears of infertility to misconceptions about contraceptive use, continue to shape patient decisions.
Clinicians, they said, play a critical role in helping patients understand available options, discussing potential benefits and risks, and supporting informed, shared decision-making based on individual circumstances.
More broadly, the discussions reinforced the importance of positioning reproductive health as integral to overall well-being, rather than a siloed concern.
Treatment decisions should always be made in consultation with a qualified healthcare professional, based on an individual’s medical condition, needs, and preferences.
A life-stage approach to women’s health
At its core, the HER framework calls for a more holistic, life-stage approach, recognizing that women’s health needs evolve from adolescence through reproductive years and into perimenopause.
This means moving beyond one-size-fits-all solutions toward personalized care grounded in evidence, empathy, and open dialogue.
As the forum highlighted, investing in women’s health creates ripple effects beyond the individual. When women are supported medically, socially, and structurally, the benefits extend to families, communities, and society.In that sense, the message of the HER Health Forum is both simple and far-reaching: supporting women through every stage of life is not just a healthcare priority, it is a societal imperative.
