An exciting milestone for contraceptive access worldwide, the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG IUS), also known as the hormonal intrauterine device (IUD), has been added to the USAID and UNFPA Product Catalogs for the first time in the product’s 30 year history. Over the past 65 years, the Population Council has developed and introduced several of the world’s most effective and popular contraceptive methods, including the LNG IUS distributed by Bayer as Mirena®.
The addition of Mirena® to these two product catalogs is an important step forward to increase contraceptive options to meet demand worldwide. It provides a critical pathway to expand procurement and distribution of the LNG IUS in more than 50 low- and middle-income countries with support from USAID, the largest bilateral donor to family planning globally, as well as the UNFPA Supplies Partnership.
The Council remains committed to making available our latest contraceptive technologies to the countries and communities we wish to serve and is proud to have provided momentum to efforts resulting in these catalog announcements.