More than 200 million women are denied the opportunity to plan their families due to lack of access to contraceptives. A large portion of these women are in developing countries and would like to use contraceptives, but the expense and lack of access to health care facilities make contraceptives unattainable.
In July 2012 global leaders convened at the London Summit on Family Planning to develop a solution to the contraceptive problem in developing countries. The primary issue is that without contraceptives, women are denied the opportunity to plan their family size, which threatens the livelihood and well-being of the whole family.
The global leaders agreed to provide 120 million more women in developing countries with access to family planning services as of 2020. The United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities further confirmed this commitment in September 2012.
As a direct result of these commitments, a partnership between Bayer HealthCare AG, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Governments of Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden, and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) formed.
The partnership funded and helped develop the Jadelle Access Program. Bayer Healthcare will provide Jadelle, a reversible contraceptive at the reduced price of $8.50, from the original $18, to 50 countries over the next six years. An estimated 27 million women will benefit from access to Jadelle.
The partnership will also send trainers to healthcare facilities providing Jadelle in the determined 50 countries to teach healthcare providers how to council and provide clinical services to Jadelle users. The additional aim is to develop delivery systems so that women in remote regions will have access to Jadelle.
An estimated 28 million unintended pregnancies during the 2013-2018 period will be prevented by the Jadelle Access program. Moreover, based on current trajectories, approximately 30,000 maternal and 280,000 infant deaths will be averted.
Financially, the Jadelle access program will save $250 million in global health costs. This money can then be invested in other global health and development programs that are in desperate need of funding.
Ultimately, the Jadelle Access program will save lives, increase family health, livelihood and well-being by providing access to contraceptives; an ordinary item in the developed world.
– Kasey Beduhn
Source: Nigerian Tribune, allAfrica
Photo: Flickr