Empowering Women, Globally

By 2030, we aim to help provide 100 million women in low- and middle-income countries with access to modern contraception yearly.

Family planning—the ability of women and girls to choose the number, timing and spacing of their pregnancies—is a fundamental human right and a crucial aspect of healthcare. In many regions around the world, the autonomy of girls and women in shaping their own lives hinges on the decision of whether and when to start a family. This decision is often influenced by awareness and social acceptance of contraception and family planning options as well as access to affordable contraceptive products.

For over 50 years, Bayer has been supporting education programs and rights-based family planning initiatives in more than 130 countries. Our focus has been on ensuring access to safe and modern forms of contraception. As a leading innovator in Women's Health, Bayer considers this commitment an integral part of our broader sustainability approach, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5, which emphasize gender equality and health.

To incorporate this into our business strategy, we have set an ambitious target for our efforts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): to annually increase the number of women using modern contraception and reach a total of 100 million women yearly by 2030. Achieving this goal requires more than just access to Bayer products; it necessitates strong partnerships and innovative thinking. Discover more about our access strategies and programs below:

Bayer works with partners, such as the German Red Cross, that have strong presence and solid experience in humanitarian settings to address the challenges of providing access to family planning.
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Access to affordable contraceptives improves the health, rights and economic status of women around the world, which is a fundamental basis for greater equality, education and prosperity for all. LEARN MORE about how we’re helping ensure a continuous supply of contraceptives for those that need them.

The lack of awareness, contraception knowledge and social and cultural acceptance of contraception present huge barriers for women to take up family planning, particularly for younger women. Capacity building refers to the development of knowledge, skills, commitment, structures, systems and leadership to enable and strengthen self-reliance and resilience of local health systems.
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We continue to partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other organizations to support The Challenge Initiative (TCI), which aims to rapidly and sustainably scale up proven reproductive health solutions among the urban poor population in cities in Africa and Asia. Our support of TCI is independent of the use of Bayer products.
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Together with a group of international partner organizations, Bayer established World Contraception Day (WCD) and the associated “Your Life” awareness campaign. The global campaign has a dedicated website, where young people can get accurate and unbiased information on contraception.
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Digital technologies are opening up new doors in family planning.
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Tracking our progress against our commitment.

Our goal to provide 100m women in 2030 with access to modern contraception was established as an ambitious target in line with Bayer’s mission of “Health for all – hunger for none”. It is supported by the significant growth of the female population in reproductive age in low and low-middle income countries over the decade. The use of modern contraception has been steadily increasing in recent years, supported by structured family planning programs and shifting social norms that prioritize voluntary family planning. Meeting the growing demand requires the involvement of suppliers like Bayer, who play a pivotal role in reaching girls and women through partnerships.

In 2022, Bayer’s women’s health products, including pills, injectables, intrauterine devices (IUD), intrauterine systems (IUS) and implants were used by around 42 million women in LMICs. Additionally, the TCI program, supported by Bayer, reported over 2 million additional users of contraception in their participating cities.

The number of users reached in each year is calculated from the client data provided by our project partners and from internal supply data, if applicable to our own products. The data is translated into user numbers according to couple-years-of-protection methodology, as utilized by USAID and updated by MSI Reproductive Choices. As with its other sustainability targets, Bayer will monitor and report the outcomes of the 100m women goal with the same rigor as financial targets on an annual basis. For a detailed description of the calculation methodology, please refer to this document.