September 22, 2021 10:06 am EDT

Building on vision to create a better and healthier every day for every woman, Organon launches video to challenge and help reduce stigma of global public health issue

SYDNEY – Organon (NYSE: OGN), a global women’s health company, is hoping to address the staggering rates of unplanned pregnancies around the world by launching a video to raise awareness and ignite a worldwide conversation around unplanned pregnancy.

Worldwide modelling estimates that unplanned pregnancy impacts approximately 121 million women each year.¹ A 2019 study reported that globally, more than 1 billion women have a need for family planning, but for 270 million of them, that need for modern methods is unmet.^2** Unplanned pregnancy can impact any woman anywhere – regardless of her social or economic background.

In Australia, one in four women had an unintended pregnancy in the past 10 years, and 30 per cent of unintended pregnancies ended in abortion.³ The rates are even higher in rural and remote locations, with women in rural areas are 1.4 times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy.⁴  For younger people aged 18-32 years, 40.8 per cent reported an unintended first pregnancy.⁴

“While we have seen a lot of progress in the area of reproductive health, the rates of unplanned pregnancy continue to be high,” said Margie Austin, Women’s Health Business Director for

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¹ Bearak J, Painchalk A, Ganatra B, et al. Unintended pregnancy and abortion by income, region, and the legal status of abortion: estimates from a comprehensive model for 1990–2019. Lancet Glob Health. 2020;8(9):e1152-e1161. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30315-6

² Kantorová V, Wheldon MC, Ueffing P, Dasgupta ANZ (2020) Estimating progress towards meeting women’s contraceptive needs in 185 countries: A Bayesian hierarchical modelling study. PLoS Med 17(2): e1003026. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003026

³ Taft et al (2018). Unintended and unwanted pregnancy in Australia: a cross-sectional, national random telephone survey of prevalence and outcomes. Med J Aust, 209 (9): 407-408

⁴ Rowe et al. (2015). Prevalence and distribution of unintended pregnancy: the Understanding Fertility Management in Australia National Survey. ANZJPH, 40(2):104-9.

**According to Kantorová et. al, modern methods of contraception include female and male sterilization, the intrauterine device (IUD), the implant, injectables, oral contraceptive pills, male and female condoms, vaginal barrier methods, the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), emergency contraception and other modern methods such as the contraceptive patch or vaginal ring.

Organon Australia. “There is no better time than ahead of World Contraception Day to focus on empowering her through education, information, empathy and conversation to help reduce unplanned pregnancy.

General Practitioner with a special interest in women’s health, including contraception and menopause, Dr Meredith Frearson believes that contraception enables women to plan their path. “Today’s contraceptive options are wide and varied and I encourage all women to take the time to discuss their options with their health care providers.  Even in Australia many women may not be aware of the increasing range of options open to them and the additional benefits that some contraceptives can provide such as reducing menstrual loss and pain and assisting with changing needs as she reaches menopause.

“Contraceptive choices may well change across a woman’s reproductive lifespan. The introduction of several longer lasting methods has made a huge difference for many women who find having a reliable set and forget method to be a major bonus. I encourage women to embrace change and take the time to find out about their options from reliable sources,” Dr Frearson said.

“There is still so much we can do across our global and local communities to help raise awareness about unplanned pregnancy and work collectively towards lowering the rates,” Austin continued. “Today marks the beginning of a new conversation, one that is geared towards reducing the stigma of unplanned pregnancy and giving her the information she needs to make informed decisions.”

Organon invites women, their families, healthcare professionals, and policy makers to visit HereforHerHealth.com to share their perspectives on how to help reduce the rates of unplanned pregnancy and join us on a collective mission of having the conversation.

The video is available on HereforHerHealth.com where people are encouraged to share their perspective on how to help reduce unplanned pregnancy.

About Organon

Organon (NYSE: OGN) is a global healthcare company formed through a spin-off from Merck& Co., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (NYSE: MRK) known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, focused on improving the health of women throughout their lives. Here for her health, the company has a portfolio of more than 60 medicines and products across a range of therapeutic areas. Led by the reproductive health portfolio coupled with an expanding biosimilars business and stable franchise of established medicines, Organon’s products produce strong cash flows that will support investments in future growth opportunities in women’s health. In addition, Organon is pursuing opportunities to collaborate with biopharmaceutical innovators looking to commercialize their products by leveraging its scale and presence in fast growing international markets.

Organon has a global footprint with significant scale and geographic reach, world-class commercial capabilities, and approximately 9,000 employees with headquarters located in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.

For more information, visit http://www.organon.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Forward-Looking Statement of Organon

Except for historical information herein, this news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements about management’s expectations about Organon’s future financial performance and prospects. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “will” or words of similar meaning. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and emergence of variant strains; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances; new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict its future financial results and performance; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its registration statement on Form 10, available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).

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