EngenderHealth Relaunches Re:MIX, an Innovative US-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

September 19, 2018 (Washington, DC; Austin, TX) EngenderHealth—a global women’s health and sexual and reproductive rights organization—is pleased to announce the relaunch of Re:MIX, an innovative teen pregnancy prevention program in Travis County, Texas. Re:MIX is an in-school health curriculum and teen pregnancy prevention program that pairs peer educators with professional health trainers to effectively reach at-risk adolescents with age-appropriate, medically accurate reproductive health and youth development information. Through the program, teens gain knowledge and skills related to building healthy relationships, practicing consensual sexual activity, and implementing strategies for contraception and disease prevention. Re:MIX was originally funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent health for five years. Earlier this year, the federal government sought to redirect funding toward abstinence-only programs, but on June 1st, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that funding for Re:MIX and similar programs implemented by other organizations will continue.

EngenderHealth’s Vice President of Programs, Mustafa Kudrati, commented on the court’s ruling stating, “Studies have repeatedly proven that abstinence-only programs simply do not work. Through the collective action of EngenderHealth and more than 60 similar organizations, we were able to successfully mitigate the government’s efforts to shift funding, which we know would endanger the health and futures of these youth. With the Re:MIX program, EngenderHealth has and will continue to provide critical sexual and reproductive health education and service linkages for some of the most at-risk youth in America.”

Jenifer DeAtley, EngenderHealth’s US Country Director and Project Director for Re:MIX, is eagerly remobilizing her team for the 2018-2019 school year and looks forward to building upon the proven strategies that the project has honed over the past three years. DeAtley said, “Our innovative approach includes coupling peer educators, who are young parents themselves, with professional health educators and employing modern teaching techniques, such as interactive games and mobile applications to reach youth most effectively. This strategy has enabled us to successfully reach adolescents in an area of the country with some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy.”

DeAtley continued, “I am excited to continue working with our partner schools. They have reported impressive results and are committed to complementing the project with their own initiatives. One campus, for example, reported it had no teen pregnancies among Re:MIX participants. Another school decided, based on improved behaviors demonstrated by RE:MIX participating students, to make condoms available to all students on campus to help them practice safe sex.”

For additional details on EngenderHealth, visit www.engenderhealth.org.

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About EngenderHealth
EngenderHealth is committed to creating transformative, sustainable change by delivering high-quality sexual, reproductive, and maternal health services; expanding access to information and training; and advancing acceptance of sexual and reproductive rights as human rights. To achieve this vision, EngenderHealth collaborates with governments, private sector partners, international experts, and local organizations and communities around the world to deliver programs that give girls and women freedom to reach their full potentials. www.engenderhealth.org.