50 Years of Putting
Women at the Center
Helping Women and Girls Access Contraceptives
50 years ago, PSI seeded funding from a mail-order condom enterprise. Since then, you’ve helped us expand choice to a broad range of contraceptive options that are quality-assured, accessible and responsive to need.
Together we’ve opened the door to sexual and reproductive health services for millions of women and helped to prevent more than 100 million unplanned pregnancies. By putting women’s wants and needs at the center of our work, we continue to evolve our offering and approach today to help women around the world take control of their own health and family choices.
See how our approach and impact have evolved throughout the years
Phil Harvey and Tim Black launch PSI with seed funding from a mail-order condom business they started.
Photo: A pharmacy owner in Kampong Cham, Cambodia sees a condom for the first time, shown by PSI Cambodia Sales Manager Om Chen.
PSI wins a landmark Supreme Court Case - Carey vs. Population Services International. It sets a precedent for contraceptive marketing and distribution across state lines in the United States.
PSI develops and launches our first proprietary male condom brands -- Prudence in Democratic Republic of Congo and Sathi in Pakistan.
Scaling Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives distributed in PSI markets in India and Kenya. After introducing oral contraceptives in 1991, PSI saw traction in this now common solution - and quickly scaled distribution across its network. To date, PSI has reached more than 40 million women with oral contraceptives; in 2020 alone, we’ve already reached at least 1 million women with oral contraceptives.
PSI introduces IUDs, or intrauterine devices, in Guinea.
What’s a LARC?
LARCs, or long-acting reversible contraception, are contraceptive methods that live up to its name: they can last up to five years at a time, are highly effective, and can be removed. LARCs include IUDs and contraceptive implants. Today, PSI is leading the way to expand access to these methods for marginalized populations across our network.
In Zambia, female condoms are distributed for the first time across the PSI network.
Did you know?
Female condoms are the only woman-controlled method that provides triple protection against unintended pregnancy, HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Emergency contraception pills distributed in Nigeria.
Did you know?
When taken within five days after intercourse, emergency contraception can prevent over 95% of pregnancies.
Distribution of contraceptive implants in Nepal.
A Preference for Implants
In 2018, PSI conducted research in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to look at trends in contraceptive product accessibility and pricing and found a significant preference for implants, thanks to their ease of insertion for both the client and the provider.
In Madagascar, PSI introduces self-injectable contraceptives.
Self-Care for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Self-care is defined as the measures that people take to prevent disease, promote health, and cope with illness and disability with or without a healthcare provider. PSI, as the incubator and current Secretariat of the Self-Care Trailblazer Group, works to bring self-care interventions - from condoms to emergency contraception - to individuals by advancing the evidence, practice, learning and policy landscape of self-care for sexual and reproductive health and rights, putting power and control into the hands of consumers worldwide.
Currently, 49 of PSI’s network members provide related services and distribution of contraceptive products. In addition to the methods highlighted above, PSI works to expand method mix to meet the needs of consumers such as the introduction of non-hormonal methods including the Caya diaphragm and the Standard Days Method (cycle beads) as well as other hormonal methods and options such as the hormonal IUS.
