Introduction of the contraceptive implant in South Africa: Successes, challenges and the way forward

In 2014, the contraceptive implant was introduced into public sector facilities in South Africa (SA). Several thousand healthcare workers were trained, and demand was generated for the method, achieving high uptake. Use of the implant has since declined, but currently accounts for ~7% of all contraceptive use – a not insignificant achievement for a ‘new’ method.[1,2] In this edition of SAMJ, three articles[3-5] take stock of the early years of implant provision in SA. The articles, based on research in 2016, capture women’s motivations for using the implant and their perspectives towards the method; and healthcare providers’ competencies and experiences with service provision. Insights may be generalisable to family planning services more broadly, but are also relevant to the introduction of other new technologies, especially those related to HIV.