In 2014, Pfizer partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and Becton, Dickinson and Company, to help enable better access to contraception across the world. The programme specifically aimed to help all low and lower-middle income countries as well as several upper-middle income countries, as defined by the World Bank.¹ 

The burden of lack of access to contraception is significant for those in low and middle-income countries. According to a recent study, published in 2022, over 160 million women had an unmet need for contraception. The majority of these women live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The study also found that more than 40 million women aged 15–24 years had unmet need for contraception, which is important, as the impact of poor contraceptive access is likely to be most significant in this age group.²

In 2023, the partnership announced an expansion of the programme. That expansion helped in adding another 23 countries to the list, resulting in 92 countries now being eligible. This means that the programme expects to deliver more then 320 million injectable contraceptive doses through 2030.¹