Is it Women’s Health Month? Not according to the calendar. But as you browse through this month’s issue of AJN, you may indeed get the impression that we decided to focus on women’s health for the month of August.

This month’s Viewpoint, by Julie Michelle Haracz, “Making OTC Oral Contraceptives Available for All Women,” reminds us that “No woman should have to wait months for an appointment to see a physician, travel long distances, or pay more than she can afford to prevent an unintended pregnancy.” Haracz notes that oral contraceptives already are available over the counter in more than 100 other countries.

In the news: quick takes and closer looks.

Our August news section is filled with stories of particular importance to women. Our reporters cover the flurry of recent state laws that would significantly limit a women’s ability to obtain an abortion (all facing court challenges), an interesting UK study showing that a single dose of antibiotic after forceps-assisted or vacuum-assisted births reduced the incidence of infection, and sobering new CDC statistics suggesting that 60% of U.S. pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.

Did you know that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people in the U.S.? Sadly, the rate of suicide among girls ages 10 to 14 is rising, narrowing the gap between rates rates for boys and girls.

Some positives.

Angely Nunez watches as Lauren Frazer, a nurse at Connecticut Children’s Primary Care Center, applies a topical anesthetic before a blood draw to check lead levels. Photo by Tony Bacewicz.

On a more positive news note, we learn of a recent study of pregnancy outcomes in African refugee women in the U.S. Despite more risk factors for poor health, including less prenatal care, language barriers, and the effects of racial or political prejudice, these women had fewer preterm births, C-sections, and low-birthweight infants than both white and black U.S. women.

Curious about how this could be? In this month’s news section, you can also learn about the drop in precancerous cervical lesions in young women since the advent of routine screening and HPV vaccination, and the latest lead screening advice for children and pregnant women.

This month’s Journal Watch section (our short summaries of recent health-related research) includes a piece on rising uterine cancer rates, and points to the disparities in outcomes among racial and ethnic groups. And finally, one of this month’s two CE articles is the very informative “Obesity-Related Cancer in Women: A Clinical Review,” where we can learn about the evidence linking overweight and obesity to several cancers.

While women’s health issues seem to be center stage in this issue, we have not forgotten about men’s health. Read about the first oral testosterone product on the market in this month’s Drug Watch column.

We hope that these and the rest of the articles in this issue make for informative summer reading. As always, we like to hear from readers. Write us at ajnletters@wolterskluwer.com or leave comments here on the blog.