USAID Recognizes World Contraception Day – September 26, 2011

	A family in Bangladesh chose to use a family planning method to properly space their children as a result of a USAID-supported project. Credit: MCHIP

World Contraception Day draws attention to the growing need for contraception awareness and access. World Contraception Day is an annual, multinational campaign. Launched in 2007, each year's theme focuses on a different aspect of contraceptive needs. This year it is "Live Your Life. Know your rights. Learn about contraception."

USAID works with countries and communities to develop strategies that ensure quality commodities, and a wide range of method choices are accessible to even those living in the most remote areas. The bottom line - every individual that wants them should have access to contraceptives and condoms for family planning and for HIV/AIDS prevention.

Modern contraception offers tremendous benefits through improved health and economic well-being. Helping women and men achieve their reproductive goals relies on three critical policy and programmatic steps:

1. Having the right quantity and combination of products in facilities to serve clients' needs
2. Using a well-functioning distribution system to get supplies to the right locations and on schedule
3. Ensuring adequate funding to purchase needed supplies and to keep facilities operating

When these steps are coordinated, family planning programs can help ensure that women and men can choose, obtain, and use a wide range of high-quality, affordable contraceptive methods and condoms.

USAID Works to Improve Access to Contraceptives

USAID programs currently provide 54 developing nations with high-quality family planning services. Our programs and services are designed to protect an individual's right to affordable, high-quality family planning commodities and services as a means to protect their reproductive health.

The USAID | DELIVER PROJECT improves the availability of essential health pharmaceuticals and other health commodities through strengthening local supply chains, improving logistics management information systems, streamlining distribution systems, identifying financial resources for procurement and supply chain operations, enhancing forecasting and procurement planning, and providing centralized procurement services.

	An assortment of contraceptive methods was used at a Clinical Service Improvement (CSI) project clinic in Egypt. Source: CCP, Courtesy of Photoshare.

USAID is one of the founding members of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC), a global partnership of public, private, and non-governmental organizations dedicated to ensuring that all people in low- and middle-income countries can access and use affordable, high-quality supplies to ensure their better reproductive health. Since 2004, the Coalition has been at the forefront of international efforts to secure reproductive health supplies by increasing resources, strengthening systems, and building effective partnerships. USAID, along with RHSC partners, recently engaged in discussions with Merck/MSD that have led to a partnership initiative that aims to give more women access to the contraceptive IMPLANON through price reductions and innovative financing and procurement. Potential savings of up to US$10 million per year could enable access for 14.5 million women between now and 2015.

• Read the RHSC call to action "Access for All: Supplying a New Decade for Reproductive Health," [PDF, 173KB] from the Access for All conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 22 - 24, 2011.

Depo-Provera is the fastest growing contraceptive in many of the countries supported by USAID and can be provided safely and effectively at the community level. USAID recently awarded a new contract for the provision of the injectable contraceptive Depo-Provera to Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that will drop the unit price by 13 percent, from 90 to 78 cents. Beginning on October 1, 2011 (FY12), the new contract is projected to save $4.8 million, based on the volumes purchased in FY11, thereby enabling USAID to provide an additional 6.2 million doses of the contraceptive.

For more information on World Contraception Day, visit http://www.your-life.com.

Read the USAID Impact Blog post, "Contraceptive Technologies Offer New Options" to learn about the latest advancements in the field.