RINGEL, INJECTABLE CONTRACEPTIVE INTRODUCED IN BURKINA FASO, VOICES IN BIOETHICS, VOL. 1 (2014-15) 

 

 

© 2014 Lillian Ringel. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative 
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, 
provided the original author and source are credited.  

 

Injectable Contraceptive Introduced in Burkina Faso 

 

Lillian Ringel 

 

Bioethics, Reproductive ethics, Burkina Faso 

 

Burkina Faso’s health ministry has begun its initiative to have contraception available to 25% of married 

women by 2015. 

 

Depo-Provera, the injectable contraceptive, has been introduced as a “Uniject” capsule under the name, 

“Sayana Press.” Containing one dose of the contraceptive, the Uniject capsule is a simple device that 

administers a long-acting drug (it has to be administered every 13 weeks). The hope is that women in 

Burkina Faso will eventually be able to administer the medication themselves. This is important for many 

reasons but mainly because, as married women, they may not want their husbands to know they are using 

birth control. Sayana Press has been approved as Depo-Provera in the United States since 2004.