Bill Gates Promoting Low Cost Birth Control In Developing World
Bill Gates has made another deal, this time to bring cheap contraceptives to the developing world. Thanks to an agreement between his foundation and Pfizer, the birth control injection Sayana Press will be available for $1 per dosage for governments and aid organizations.
In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation added family planning to their long list of priorities. According to Chris Elias, Gates’ foundation’s global development chief, it’s important to both health and economic growth.
“When women have access to the means to time and space their pregnancies in a healthy way, we see improvements in maternal health, child health and in the economic prosperity of nations.”
That is why they’re committed to spending $1 billion to spread the birth control to 120 million more women in the developing world by 2020, but they’re not alone.
According to the Seattle Times, PATH, a nonprofit organization that developed the simplified unijet syringe for Sayana Press, is already conducting a pilot program in Niger, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Senegal. About 6,000 women in Burkina Faso have signed up for the new birth control, 75 percent of whom are using contraceptives for the first time.
Sayana Press is cheap thanks in part to subsidies from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and other organizations, but the key to Sayana Press’ potential is more than just price.
As Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) CEO explained, “The real genius of this product is that it’s so simple.” Sayana Press uses an older contraceptive called Depo-Provera, but thanks to the unijet syringe it doesn’t need to be administered by health care professional. Typically, Depo-Provera has to be loaded up into a standard syringe and injected deep into muscle tissue, while the unijet system only requires a shallow injection and comes already filled with the birth control.
The new birth control is also discreet. It doesn’t leave behind any materials as evidence and it allows women to go for three months without a new injection. That allows women to keep it a secret from family members and others, especially useful in places where contraceptives are still stigmatized. Still, there’s a potential that Bill Gates will be making some enemies in more conservative parts of Africa.
The Gate’s Foundation’s fame comes largely from its efforts to combat infectious diseases, nearly wiping out polio and recently donating $200 million to help fight malaria. The foundation has also donated money to combat the Ebola epidemic.
Family planning is still a new component to Bill Gates’ philanthropy, but it may have real pay-off in the distant future. As ThinkProgress explained, allowing women the ability to prevent pregnancy allows them greater freedom to finish college or earn a higher paying job. It might turn out to be another well-paying investment for Bill Gates.
[Image Credit: World Economic Forum/Wikimedia Commons]
