Ebony Recognizes Evvy’s Tests for Putting Vaginal Health First

Evvy is all about empowering women and those with vaginas to become advocates for their health. In March, this progressive female-founded company that offers at-home vaginal microbiome testing kits was featured by Ebony for its efforts in destigmatizing vaginal health.

The magazine shed a spotlight on how women are typically diagnosed four years later than men, and the stark reality that just 4% of health care research and development goes toward women’s health in America. Sadly, the numbers are lower for Black and Indigenous people, and other people of color, according to Ebony.

Ebony also included support from Evvy adviser OB-GYN Oluwatosin Goje. “I strongly believe that the future of health care requires empowering women and people with vaginas, especially Black women, with better information about their own bodies so they can actively advocate for themselves at the doctor’s office,” Goje says on Ebony.com.

Evvy’s team posted its appreciation for Ebony’s acknowledgment on its Instagram. “Thank you @ebonymagazine for this spotlight on Evvy and our incredible adviser Dr. Goje of Cleveland Clinic,” the post states. “There are so many critical research gaps that need to be addressed in vaginal health — many of which disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic women, given that they experience BV [bacterial vaginosis] at higher rates.”

Evvy also posted how the company is determined to help close those gaps while providing scientifically sound education to all communities alongside pioneers such as Goje.

Evvy continues to spread the word about vaginal health through its Instagram, @Evvy, which has more than 7,000 followers. Its TikTok @evvybio has gained more than 1,000,000 likes with witty videos on things like bacterial vaginosis and the vaginal microbiome.

Evvy co-founders Priyanka Jain and Laine Bruzek are working to redefine how the female body is studied and talked about. Jain recently appeared on Kelsey Darragh’s “Confidently Insecure” podcast to further discuss closing the gender health gap. Jain says she’s hoping Evvy’s vaginal microbiome tests will help women and those with vaginas have more open conversations about vaginal health with others, especially health care providers.

“We want to advocate and put data behind better standards of care,” Jain said on “Confidently Insecure.”

While many treatments exist for vaginal health, Jain is hoping to unlock the mystery behind which of those things actually works. Jain also says she’s on a mission to radically reinvent the way the female body is understood and treated, and she wants to get down to the root of what’s wrong.

“Our tests are available as a single one-off purchase or as a membership,” Jain says. “We are bringing the best technology to this problem and we’re doing our absolute best to make this accessible and affordable because it matters to us a lot that the people who want this information can get it.”

Jain adds that so many conditions in the female body are oversimplified and misunderstood. “Right now we’re focused on providing the best possible information to the people who are coming to us,” Jain says. “And there is data to say we can do better. Doctors are also frustrated that patients continue to get recurrent infections and they have no new insights to offer. We’re hoping to use our platform to elevate better standards of care that can become the guidelines in the future.”