The Coming-of-Age of Subcutaneous Injectable Contraception

Thirty-one years ago, Uniject—a prefilled, single dose syringe and needle package that features a collapsible blister—was conceptualized. Seventeen years later Uniject was approved to administer 104 mg of the contraceptive depot medroxyprogesterone acetate subcutaneously (DMPA-SC). DMPA-SC is still nascent in many countries, but in others it has transitioned to prominence even where there is already an intramuscular DMPA (DMPA-IM) product on the market. DMPASC is now coming of age, and offering it alongside a broad range of other contraceptive options, including fertility awareness methods, long-acting reversible methods, and permanent methods, increases choice and access to voluntary family planning.