Bayer Healthcare Unveils New Affordable Contraceptive

Determined to enhance family planning choices, Bayer Healthcare has introduced a new oral contraceptive pill,Microgynon, for women.The pill which is available in many local pharmacy stores in Nigeria was introduced to accomodate middle-income couples who may not afford some of pills around due to its high cost. The product was made public recently at a ceremony in Abuja, marking the innovative public-private partnership between Bayer HealthCare and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to the management of both organisations, the partnership is designed to make more affordable family planning choices available to women through the private sector and address the growing demand for contraceptives and the overall sustainability of supply.
They said"Family planning allows couples to plan their families as they desire, reduces the risks from unintended and/or high-risk pregnancies, and improves the health of mothers and their children by allowing time between pregnancies".
After the introduction Microgynon® Fe in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya, the Bayer-USAID partnership will expand the initiative to several more Sub-Saharan countries by 2016. According to USAID Nigeria's Director, Health, Population and Nutrition office, Dr. Nancy Lawenthal, she emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships in helping governments meet their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
She said "We are pleased that this important initiative between USAID and Bayer Healthcare is being extended to Nigeria. The private sector has an important role to play in contributing to sustainable development and in this case, by ensuring that Nigerian women have access to a sustainable supply of quality, affordable oral contraceptives."
A gynecologist who identified himself as Dr. Akinola spoke on the efficacy of the product "Combined oral contraceptives are 99% effective when used consistently and correctly. It also provides women with a reversible method that is easy to discontinue and has a rapid return to fertility."