Bayer Healthcare and USAID Partner to make Microgyon® Fe Oral Contraceptive Available and Affordable in Nigeria

·         Launch of innovative public-private partnership between Bayer HealthCare and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

·         Access to Microgynon® Fe at affordable prices for the middle income women

·         Roll-out planned in eleven Sub-Saharan countries by 2016

Microgynon® Fe is now available in local pharmacies at a significantly lower price after it’s recent launch in Sheraton Hotels Abuja. The product comes as a result of an innovative public-private partnership between Bayer HealthCare and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Microgynon® brand is the world’s most widely used oral contraceptive. The reduced price enables middle-income couples to access a quality, affordable family planning product.

The partnership is designed to make more affordable family planning choices available to women through the private sector and address the growing demand for contraceptives and the overall sustainability of supply. Family planning allows couples to plan their families as they desire, reduces the risks from unintended and/or high-risk pregnancies, and improves the health of mothers and their children by allowing time between pregnancies.

After the introduction Microgynon® Fe in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya, the Bayer-USAID partnership will expand the initiative to several more Sub-Saharan countries by 2016. USAID Nigeria’s Director, Health, Population and Nutrition office, Dr. Nancy Lawenthal, emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships in helping governments meet their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

“We are pleased that this important initiative between USAID and Bayer Healthcare is being extended to Nigeria. The private sector has an important role to play in contributing to sustainable development and in this case, by ensuring that Nigerian women have access to a sustainable supply of quality, affordable oral contraceptives.

“Combined oral contraceptives are 99% effective when used consistently and correctly. It also provides women with a reversible method that is easy to discontinue and has a rapid return to fertility. Microgynon® Fe is being used by millions of women around the world and is well known and trusted by medical professionals,” said Dr. O.I. Akinola, Ostetrician/Gynecologist, and President of the OB/GYN Society of Nigeria. Women interested in finding out more information about Microgynon® Fe should talk with their nearest private healthcare provider.

Microgynon® Fe is manufactured in Germany by Bayer HealthCare and imported to Nigeria by CHI Pharmaceuticals.

 

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 19.97 billion (2014), is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activity of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. Bayer Healthcare’s aim is to discover, develop, manufacture and market products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 56, 700 employees (Dec 31, 2014) and is represented in more than 100 countries. More information at www.healthcare.bayer.com.

About USAID

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic, technical and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In September of 2009, the Global Health Bureau’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health signed a five year collaboration agreement between USAID and Bayer HealthCare. The Contraceptive Security Initiative is an innovative public-private partnership that seeks to address the ever increasing need for affordable contraceptives. For more information about USAID’s programs, please visit: www.usaid.gov.

Contact:

Managing Director                                                         Ulrike Schroeder

CHI Pharmaceuticals Ltd.                                              Corporate Communications

14 Chivita Avenue, Ajoa Estate                                     Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin – Germany

Apakun – Oshodi, Lagos – Nigeria                               Phone: +49 30 468 192296

Lagos – Nigeria                                                             Email: Ulrike.schroeder@bayer.com

Phone:             +234 1 2806770, 7740383

Press Office

USAID, Washington D.C.-USA

Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs

Phone: Tel: (202) 712-4320