The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (IUD), also known as the hormonal IUD or hormonal intrauterine system (IUS), has been added for the first time to the UNFPA Product Catalog, following the announcement in April of its addition to the USAID Product Catalog.
"For too long, the hormonal IUD has been unavailable to the majority of women in low-income countries,” said Ellen Starbird, Director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at USAID. “Now, with the addition of quality-assured products in the USAID and UNFPA product catalogs, the situation is changing. This is an exciting milestone, and we look forward to collaborating with governments and local partners to expand access to this method as part of our commitment to voluntarism, informed choice, and access to a broad range of contraceptive methods."
In April, working with USAID’s Global Health Office of Population and Reproductive Health Commodities Security & Logistics Division, USAID’s Bureau for Global Health Office of Population and Reproductive Health Research, Technology and Utilization Division and the Hormonal IUD Access Group, we introduced the hormonal IUD into the USAID product catalog for the first time! Family planning priority countries will now be able to procure the product through our project.
The hormonal IUD is an effective, long-acting, reversible contraceptive with important non-contraceptive health benefits. To learn more, read FP2020’s update here.
