Global Contraceptive Guidance for Providers
Family planning service providers around the world look to the World Health Organization (WHO) for clinical contraceptive guidance, such as the Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use and Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use. This guidance informs providers about the safety of various contraceptive methods for clients with specific health conditions and characteristics, and provides recommendations on initiation and use of contraceptive methods. These recommendations can be used as part of the process for improving the quality of care in family planning. Countries and programs may adapt this guidance to their own country context.
To help keep the WHO’s contraceptive guidance up to date with the latest scientific findings, WHO and CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health (DRH) actively monitors new contraceptive research findings. Since 1994, DRH has synthesized the latest scientific evidence on contraceptive safety and effectiveness, and has provided expertise to WHO for their periodic updates of the contraceptive guidelines.
CDC/DRH has adapted these guidelines for use in the United States in Contraceptive Guidance For U.S. Health Care Providers.
- CastCost Contraceptive Projection Tool – The Contraceptive Forecast and Cost Estimate Spreadsheet, or CastCost, is a tool that uses survey and publicly available data to quickly produce projections of a country’s or program’s contraceptive supply needs for the next one to five years and can be used to—
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- Provide an estimate of the contraceptive quantities that will be needed for the next five years and how much they will cost.
- Make estimates for a country as a whole, for different sectors (public or private), or for individual programs.
- Make budget projections.
- Validate logistics-based contraceptive forecasts.
- Test cost and procurement scenarios for different contraceptive method mixes or supply sources (donors or manufacturers).
- Pocket Guide for Managing Contraceptive Supplies – This guide provides a brief overview of the essential elements of a contraceptive logistics and the practices needed to ensure the system runs smoothly. It serves as a quick reference for health clinic staff and supervisors to the logistics principles and formulas needed to effectively manage contraceptive supplies. It is available in English, Spanish, and French.