In the early 1990’s, I met a young woman named Gelete. I was working as part of an HIV prevention team along the Sudanese border of Ethiopia, and Gelete was one of our team’s most committed local volunteers working to implement our condom distribution program. Growing up, she dreamed of becoming a physician and attending medical school—but, at age 16, she was raped by her teacher, became pregnant and was then ostracized and abandoned by her own family. With no support and a baby to feed, she moved to a small town to work on a coffee plantation. Since coffee bean harvesting is seasonal work with few other opportunities available in the off season, Gelete joined other young women in similar situations exchanging money for sex to survive.

Incorporating what women want into new sexual and reproductive health products is essential

We at PATH make it our business to reflect on the elusive topic of ‘what women want’—in terms of protection options in their sexual and reproductive lives. Not surprisingly, the answer is complex. Women want and need different things at different stages of their lifecycle, depending on the circumstances of their lives.

Leveraging its experience developing the first vaginal ring and long-acting product shown to help prevent HIV, the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides is now developing a three-month vaginal ring designed to reduce women’s HIV risk and prevent unplanned pregnancy. This innovative multipurpose prevention technology would offer women a discreet option to protect their sexual and reproductive health on their own terms.

The Road

6 years; 12 Million Dollars.

When the founders of the Female Health Company (FHC) began conceptualizing the female condom in 1996, they wanted to create a product that would impact society as well as benefit investors. Little did they know that it would be a long road to develop a market for the female condom.

At this point, we do not likely need to convince you that if you are aiming to develop and introduce an MPT product, incorporating end-user research into the process is a good idea, especially if you want it to have a positive public health impact. We at the IMPT Secretariat are delighted that end-user research has become an increased focus in the contraception, HIV prevention, and global health spaces. It is now critical that enthusiasm for end-user research in these fields is applied effectively – that is, employs the right methods with the right stakeholders during the right stages, asks questions that fill knowledge gaps rather than ‘reinvent the wheel,’ and otherwise addresses past challenges experienced with this type of research.