CITY HALL — Mayor Eric Adams and members of his administration announced the launch of a new effort Tuesday to improve women’s health in the five boroughs, and education looks to be one of their earliest goals.
Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom recalled her own experiences, including as a mother, and thanked the mayor for his commitment to making women’s health a priority.
“To have this mayor who came to us to [say] ‘I think we should talk about vaginas more’…He never ceases to amaze me,” Williams-Isom said. “I’m so proud to have a man and a mayor who sees us for who we are, and I am so proud to live in a city where my daughters will have the future that they need.”
A central part of their effort will be relaunching the city’s Sexual Education Task Force, a joint effort among the New York City Commission on Gender Equity, the New York City Department of Education (DOE), and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Equity.
IMPROVING SEX-ED IN SCHOOLS
Focused on sexual wellness and inclusivity, the task force’s prior iteration released a 2018 report with recommendations on how the city could improve sex ed in its classrooms.
The task force’s new iteration will provide an annual report on its work implementing 11 of those recommendations — including ensuring school staff have basic competencies around inclusivity while being able to link students to appropriate sexual health resources outside the school setting, and increasing broad community support of sexual health education through public awareness campaigns and information sessions.
“For too long health and health care has been centered around men, but that changes today,” Adams said. “We have been standing on the sidelines of women’s health for too long, and I have personally seen firsthand how the health system is letting our women down. It is long overdue that we break taboos and make New York City a model for the future of women’s health care. We are going to build a city that is here for all women and girls.”
Results of that revamped task force remain to be seen, but the mayor also announced a host of immediate programs aimed at improving women’s health.
The city will begin more closely tracking different disease rates to better understand women’s health in the five boroughs, and will convene a summit in March, during Women’s History Month, to come up with other ideas on how to improve women’s health.
A new committee will also seek to improve workplace wellness programs among the city’s workforce.
New initiatives will also be launched through the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Health + Hospitals, the city’s public hospital system.
AVAILABILITY OF ABORTION MEDICATION
The Health Department will make abortion medication available at its sexual health clinics that take place in every borough except Staten Island.
That new program builds on the existing system that makes the medication available at all 11 of the city’s public hospitals located in every borough except Staten Island.
A spokesman for Health + Hospitals said the medication isn’t offered at the system’s Gotham Health clinics, like the one on Vanderbilt Avenue, but that they can reference patients to the city’s public hospitals.
Additionally, the public hospital system will be launching a family-based substance use disorder program to help pregnant women and parents dealing with addiction. The Health + Hospitals spokesman said exact details on that program are still being worked out.
A Health Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Despite the lack of clarity about what the new programs mean for Staten Island, State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/Southern Brooklyn) voiced her support for the mayor’s announcement.
“I commend the mayor on his commitment to women’s health,” she said. “Maternal health is a top priority for me and I look forward to having a partner in Mayor Adams to combat this issue, along with many others regarding the health and well-being of New York’s women.”
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