Media Centre

Media Advisories

SOGC Websites Win International Awards for Public Education

Two Canadian health websites produced by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) were presented with Aesculapius Awards of Excellence today, in recognition of excellence in communicating health information to the public.

The awards, presented by the Maryland-based Health Improvement Institute, were awarded to www.sogc.org and www.sexualityandu.ca for their contributions to health education on sexual and reproductive health.

“It is a great honour for our society to be recognized in this way,” said SOGC President Dr. Don Davis. “There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to sexuality and women’s reproductive health. These sites are excellent sources of credible information – information people know they can trust because it’s produced by medical experts.“

The Aesculapius award marks the second major international recognition in the past year for sexualityandu.ca, which was developed as part of the SOGC’s Contraception Awareness Project. Last November, the Canadian sexual health and wellness site was selected as one of the world’s top five e-health projects at the United Nations’ Summit on the Information Society held in Tunisia.

For both sites, the awards come following recent upgrades. In November 2005, the SOGC relaunched its website www.sogc.org, adding additional features such as a new public education section offering health information on subjects such as pregnancy, menopause, and gynaecologic health. The SOGC also revamped its sexualityandu site in July of this year, adding a modern new look and a host of new features. These features include: interactive contraceptive comparison charts; a new section for members of the media featuring Canadian statistics on sexual health; and one of the largest collections of Frequently Asked Questions on sexual health that the Internet has to offer.

Named after the ancient god of medicine and healing, the Aesculapius awards are presented annually to websites and radio and television public service announcements that offer exceptional public health information. The two SOGC sites were evaluated on criteria such as health-objective, content and credibility, user-friendliness, readability, visual design, and effectiveness of reaching its target audience.

For more information, please contact:

Mike Haymes, Coordinator, Communications and Public Education
Tel : (800) 561-2416 or (613) 730-4192 extension: 325
Fax: (613) 730-4314
Email: mhaymes@sogc.com Website: www.sogc.org

About the SOGC

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) is one of Canada’s oldest national specialty organizations. Established in 1944, the Society’s mission is to promote excellence in the practice of obstetrics and gynaecology and to advance the health of women through leadership, advocacy, collaboration, outreach and education. The SOGC represents obstetricians/gynaecologists, family physicians, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals working in the field of sexual reproductive health. For more information, visit www.sogc.org.

About the Contraception Awareness Project

Administered by the SOGC, the Contraception Awareness Project is a national initiative aimed at raising contraception and safer sex awareness in the public as well as in the medical community. Built on three pillars, the Contraception Awareness Project promotes contraception use and adherence; safer sexual practices and; sexual well-being free from coercion. The Contraception Awareness Project administers the sexual health website www.sexualityandu.ca, which was selected as one of the top five e-health applications in the world at the 2005 World Summit Awards in Tunisia.