September 2008, Vol 30, No. 3
Internet

What's in the web for family physicians - women's Health 2

Alfred KY Tang 鄧權恩

1. ReproLine: Reproductive Health Online
http://www.reproline.jhu.edu/index.htm

Affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, this is an educational website providing up-to-date information on reproductive health topics. Information on family planning, maternal and neonatal health, cervical cancer and other health topics related to reproductive health are available. Publications and learning tools for doctors are also included. Reference manuals, learning resources packages, and selected articles to childbirth and neonatal health are also present making it a very comprehensive website on reproductive health.

2. Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
http://www.cbcf.org/breastcancer/

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation is a national volunteer-based organization in Canada dedicated to creating a future without breast cancer. The Foundation works collaboratively to fund, support and advocate for relevant researches, meaningful awareness programs, early diagnosis and effective treatment, and a positive quality of life for those living with breast cancer. The website contains up-to-date information on breast health and breast cancer compiled from a variety of sources and reviewed by breast cancer experts. It provides comprehensive overviews of a wide range of breast health and breast cancer topics, as well as links to sources of further information. Extensive online resources on breast cancer and online forum are also available at the Breast Cancer Network Nova Scotia website>(http://bca.ns.ca/home), serving the province of Nova Scotia as a focus of support, information, news, treatment options, advocacy, and awareness.

3. Canadian Women's Health Network
http://www.cwhn.ca/indexeng.html

The website offers very extensive resources on women's health. It is maintained by the Canadian Women's Health Network (CWHN) which is a voluntary national organization to improve the health and lives of girls and women in Canada and the world. The website serves as a platform for, collecting, producing, distributing and sharing knowledge, ideas, education, information, resources, strategies and inspirations. A large list of relevant topics is searchable. The list includes not only the usual topics like "fitness and nutrition," "menopause and healthy aging," and "pregnancy and motherhood," but also categories as "gender-based analysis," "health policy," "women in the workplace," and attention to the health issues of aboriginal women, lesbians and bisexual women, and women with disabilities. The site also hyperlinks to extensive links to related sites including the multimedia website on 'Environmental Risks and Breast Cancer' with well produced educational videos (http://erbc.vassar.edu/erbc/).

4. Childbirth.Org
http://www.childbirth.org/

Extensive, well-organized resources concerning pregnancy and childbirth are available at the website. Information are categorized to "getting pregnant", "pregnancy", "pregnancy week by week", "labour", "babies", and there are also a lot of recommended books related to child birth. The website was built with the objective that women be educated about pregnancy and childbirth, know the available options, and how to ensure the best possible care essential to a health pregnancy.

5. Medline Plus: Menopause
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/menopause.html

This page on the Menopause offers overviews of menopause, news, information on symptoms, treatments, alternative therapies, clinical trials, research, related issues, and many others. Medline Plus, from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, has the reputation of providing high-quality information on many health issues. This website is another example. It also covers related topics like hormone replacement therapy, menstruation, premature ovarian failure and many other related topics.

6. Emergency Contraception
http://ec.princeton.edu

This site, under the aegis of Princeton University and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, offers high-quality information about emergency contraception. It answers questions like "what emergency contraception is", "what kinds there are", "where emergency contraception can be found", and many more. There is an extensive section of Frequently Asked Questions. The site is peer-reviewed by a panel of experts and is intended to increase women's knowledge about and timely access to emergency contraception and other reproductive health choices. It is a good site to be recommended to patients.

7. Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
www.ffprhc.org.uk

Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was changed to its current name in 2007. The new name was to reflect more appropriately the current function of the Faculty. The section on 'good medical practice' of the website harbours a long list of different titles on "method specific guidance", "emergency contraception", "contraception for different groups" and "drug interactions". All titles are in form of downloadable PDF files and are kept up-to-date.


Alfred KY Tang, MBBS (HK), MFM (Monash)
Family Physician in Private Practice

Correspondence to: Dr Alfred KY Tang, Shop 3A, 2/F, Hsin Kuang Shopping Centre, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.

E-mail: alfredtang@hkma.org