Making contraceptives available to women in 69 of the poorest countries in the world.

In the past few days an agreement was signed between the Gates Foundation, the drug company Pfizer and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation in an aim to provide this sexual health service to women who normally have no access in 69 of the world’s poorest countries. This technology was originally designed to be used for giving hepatitis B jabs in Indonesia, and now Burkina Faso is has been the first country that has used the technology to deliver contraception.

 

20 year-old Soré Néimatou has a boyfriend and wants to use contraception because she doesn’t want to get pregnant yet. She has never previously used or had access to contraceptives and is opting to use the new injection – Sayana Press.

 

"I don't want to get pregnant," she said. "I want to get married first."

 

The device comes pre-packaged and therefor there is no need for nurses or doctors to prepare a traditional syringe to administer the drug. All the health worker has to do is squeeze a plastic bubble and protects the woman for 3 months.

 

The design is called Uniject and removes all risk of dosing errors and spillages, nor can it be reused therefore completely removes the risk of needle-sharing infections.

 

As the device is so simple, it makes the training process for health workers much quicker which is a vital factor to take into consideration in developing countries and the device is seen as more acceptable by women in rural areas.

 

One healthworker said, "Normally for injections you have to put them in someone's bottom, or the top of their leg, but with this - you use the arm. That's an advantage for women living in the bush. Many women don't come forward for injections if they have to pull their dresses up - but this is more discreet."

 

Early trails have also reported that women experience less pain with this type of injection thatn conventional injections.