At the beginning of March, Tulane University unveiled the Pharmabox, a new health supply vending machine, located on the first floor of the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life between the Information Desk and FedEx Office. 

Pharmabox is a business that was founded in 2014 to provide an automated retail system to offer instant over-the-counter and self-serve personal care products in underserved communities. The first ever automated system for over-the-counter pharmaceutical products that complied with FDA regulations, Pharmabox aims to create an easy way for students to obtain health products that are safe and top-brand. 

Each Pharmabox’s location intends to be a public area that is accessible 24/7, so individuals can conveniently purchase the products whenever needed. The LBC is open 24 hours, seven days a week to all students. 

Dispensing band-aids, personal care essentials, over-the-counter medicine, emergency contraceptives, pregnancy tests, condoms and other name-brand healthcare products, the Pharmabox serves as a giant pharmacy vending machine.

This addition to the LBC will allow students to access menstrual products and contraceptives. Student-run organizations like Students United for Reproductive Justice, Tulane University Peer Health Educators and Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline and Education have all advocated for safe sex on campus.

After Louisiana placed state restrictions on forms of birth control and contraceptives, many students said they are worried about access to reproductive care products. 

Claire Daniel, director of community engagement at the Newcomb Institute, said “the Pharmabox increases access to emergency contraception in a moment when access to reproductive healthcare has been even further curtailed in Louisiana as a result of the Dobbs decision.”

While students can get contraceptives from Tulane Campus Health or Big Easy EC, Daniel said the Pharmabox lets students purchase them “without having to interact with someone, which can be a barrier for some people.”

The Pharmabox allows anonymous access to contraceptive methods. “It’s incredibly important that the university does whatever it can to promote the bodily autonomy of people on campus who can become pregnant,” Daniel said.