Montreal public health is urging schools not to use material from Séréna Québec, the organization behind the popular La Semaine Rouge menstrual health program. Noovo Info learned the local health authority has sent a letter to local schools recommending they stop using the organization’s material in classrooms, warning that some of the content could misinform or confuse young people. The letter says Séréna Québec promotes natural contraception without adequately explaining its limitations. It also raises concerns that hormonal contraception is presented in an unbalanced way. On its website, Séréna Québec promotes the symptothermal method, a form of natural contraception that involves tracking fertility signs and adapting sexual activity around fertile phases. Obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Diane Francoeur, executive director of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, says public health is right to be concerned. “Because these young folks, who look on social media, will be told that the birth control pill is associated with infertility and they have cancer. And this is not true,” Francoeur said. She argues schools have a responsibility to counter it. “Education is the only way we’re going to be able to fight misinformation... and help them make the best decisions for themselves,” she said. “School is a place where you should be taught based on science, not on your perception or your personal preferences.” She also disputed how natural methods are sometimes presented to students. “We cannot allow people to go into schools and do the promotion of the symptothermal method where the efficacy — even if they claim it’s 98 per cent — this is not true,” noting real-world effectiveness drops well below the “perfect use” figures cited by advocates. “In this country, 40 per cent of the pregnancies are still not planned,” she said. “So this is the real life.” Séréna Québec pushes back In a statement, Séréna Québec disputes the criticism, saying Semaine Rouge does not teach natural contraception in schools. Unlike its website, the organization says, its in-school program focuses on menstrual health, body literacy, reducing taboos and fighting period poverty. Director Nathalie Grégoire-Charrette has also distanced the organization from a separate document circulating online that offers advice on oral contraception, telling Noovo Info it doesn’t belong to Séréna Québec or La Semaine Rouge. The organization says it’s open to working with public health to clear up what it calls “misunderstandings.” A teacher’s perspective Roxanne Dubé-Rémillard, a high school teacher in Longueuil, has helped lead Semaine Rouge workshops for the past two years. She’s careful to draw a line around what the program covers. “I don’t want to talk about contraception, because this is not La Semaine Rouge,” she said. She believes the program is making a real difference at her school, where free menstrual products are now available, and she says the subject carries less stigma than before. “I just really believe in this initiative, truly, as a woman and as a teacher,” she said. “Menstruation, for a long time, has been a private subject, and we need to talk about it as a public health subject.” She also called it an important feminist initiative. “It’s a free initiative that contributes to gender equality — we break myths around the menstrual experience. It’s a subject that not only concerns girls, but boys too," she said. Santé Québec to pay close attention Montreal public health declined a request for an interview about its warning. Meantime, Santé Québec said it is aware of the concerns raised and will pay close attention to the flagged elements through its usual monitoring mechanisms for Séréna Québec, which receives funding through the Programme de soutien aux organismes communautaires (PSOC). The provincial health authority noted that funding supports the organization’s overall mission rather than any specific activity or content, and that community organizations can choose their approach and activities. The government plays no role in determining which organizations are authorized to work in schools. Séréna Québec tells CTV News it has given workshops in several schools, camps and group homes across the province. It has not yet run workshops in English schools, but said it intends to. With files from Noovo Info’s Véronique Dubé and Laurie Gervais.
