challenge
Create New Technologies for Contraception
challenge
Create New Technologies for Contraception
It is estimated that 200 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for effective contraception even while family planning is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce maternal, infant and child mortality (Vlassoff, M., Singh, S., Darroch, J.E., Carbone, E., Bernstein, S. 2004.. Early marriage and childbearing before age 18 is also a serious public health problem in many countries, leading to increased maternal and newborn death and disability. Women, and even young girls, often have little choice in decisions related to sexual activity and any overt contraception is often unaccepted. Meeting this need is hindered in the current context of declining funding for family planning programs. The current pipeline of new methods in development is heavily weighted towards hormonal methods. This presents the opportunity to explore non-hormonal methods, which might provide new benefits for uptake among women who find hormonal methods less than satisfactory. This also presents opportunities for new technologies that limit the side effects of hormonal methods, decrease the cost of existing methods or increase the deliverability of existing methods.