Abstract
The Contraceptive Innovation Index is intended to support ongoing discussion and decision-making around the introduction and scale up of contraceptive technologies. This tool builds upon the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Global Health Innovation Index, with adaptations made to reflect the complexities of contraceptive markets. Using the adapted Index, stakeholders can identify which contraceptive technologies have the greatest potential for impact – both in the short and long term – using four core criteria (user demand and impact, system factors and sustainability, supplier capacity and progression to scale). Rather than provide a go or no-go decision, the Index helps bring attention to where additional data and/or investment would be most useful prior to launching or scaling an innovation.
To illustrate how to apply the Contraceptive Innovation Index, two case studies are included within this report: on the hormonal IUD in Nigeria and the Caya diaphragm in Niger. Decisionmaking around contraceptive introduction and
scale should be informed by a context-specific understanding of the complex market into which any new method would enter. As a result, application of the Contraceptive Innovation Index is recommended within a specific geographic or
market context.
