September 27, 2012 (TSR) – A new United Nations partnership announced on 26 September that it would make a long lasting contraceptive implant available to 27 million women living in some of the world’s poorest countries.
The partnership, which is supported by the German pharmaceutical firm Bayer HealthCare AG, the manufacturer of the device, said it will be made available at less than half the current price of $18 each.
Former US President Bill Clinton, who heads the Clinton Health Access Initiative, said that the partnership “never asked the suppliers to lose money, we asked them to make money in a different way by lowering profit margins, dramatically increasing volumes and guaranteeing payment in a prompt and timely fashion and working on an efficient supply chain.”
“That’s what’s going to happen here,” he emphasized.
Clinton said the device would “allow women and families to have more control over their lives and to lead healthier, fuller lives.”
The former US President said “We (donor countries), in the wealthier countries can now see that by putting up a modest amount of money and pooling with others and working with the providers we can make market forces work to help poor people and save lives.”
He added that this was “a very big deal”
The contraceptive is designed to be placed in the upper inside arm and should prevent conception for five years, the partnership said. The effect is reversible by removing the device.
The partnership is made up of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom United states and Sweden, The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and other groups,
