Pfizer and Aid Groups Team Up on Depo-Provera Contraceptive for Developing World

Friday, November 14, 2014

Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive given once every three months, is already a popular choice of women in developing countries, who value the convenience and discretion of not having to take a daily birth control pill.

But the injections are out of reach for many more women because they live in rural areas that are too far from a health clinic to make the treatments practical.

Now, a major collaboration between Pfizer, the drug’s manufacturer, and several global aid groups is aiming to change that by providing financing to make a new version of the drug — redesigned with developing countries in mind — available in 69 nations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

The new product, called the Sayana Press, is a single-use syringe designed to be portable and easy to use.

Depo-Provera is typically injected into the muscle by health care workers who must first draw the drug into a syringe from a glass vial. The new product has been reformulated into a lower dose and uses an existing device, called a Uniject system, that looks like a plastic bubble with a short needle attached. It is injected under the skin by squeezing the bubble and can be administered with minimal training.

Source: The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care
Tags
reproductive health