A new initiative to expand injectable contraceptive use to 69 of the world’s poorest countries could provide a model for future global health partnership and innovation, global health experts argue.
U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer took its widely used injectable contraceptive Depo-Provera and repackaged it for the developing world, while other organizations across the public and private sectors provided funding, medical training and transportation to ensure access to rural areas. The consortium combines the resources of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, UNFPA, PATH and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, among others.
“In my memory I don’t think we have introduced any other contraceptive in the way we have introduced this one with such a broad partnership,” Jagdish Upadhay, a commodity security branch chief at UNFPA, told Devex.