Counts of persons accepting any (program) contraceptive method for the first time in their lives during a one-year period. A program method refers to methods made available through established family planning programs: pill, IUD, implant, injection, condom (male and female), spermicides/foam/jelly, diaphragm, tubal ligation, sterilization (male and female), vaginal ring, patch, sponge, cervical cap, emergency contraception, standard days method, basal body temperature method, TwoDay method, symptothermal method and the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), if used under program supervision.

Data should be disaggregated by:

• HIV service platforms, such as counseling and testing, care and treatment, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), key populations, and DREAMS
• Non-HIV focused service delivery platforms (e.g., FP-integrated school, community, or facility health programs) that are supported by PEPFAR
• Type of SDP (e.g., mobile service unit, hospital, or health center)
• Sex/age (male: <15, 15–19, 20–24, 25+; female: <15, 15–19, 20–24, 25+)
• Parity, ethnicity, place of residence, rural/urban location, and/or other factors judged relevant in the country context, such as vulnerable populations (e.g., poor women and female sex workers)

Service delivery statistics

This indicator measures the ability of the program to attract new clients from an untapped segment of the population to its services. By measuring the number of clients who accept modern contraception for the first time in their lives, this indicator reduces ambiguity, avoids a duplication of cases, and eliminates the problem of counting as “new” those clients who switch from one source to another for reasons of convenience or cost.

As an indicator, it may also reflect the success of special communication programs or other interventions (e.g., social marketing projects) aimed at increasing service utilization among those previously missed by the program. However, in this latter case, one must be mindful that some of the new acceptors might have obtained the same or another method from an alternate source (e.g., the unsubsidized pharmacy sector) if the special intervention had not taken place.

For more information on this indicator, see “Monitoring the Integration of Family Planning and HIV Services: A Manual to Support the Use of Indicators to Measure Progress toward PEPFAR’s 90-90-90 Targets and Protect Women’s Reproductive Rights” (MEASURE Evaluation, 2016).

Although this indicator is an important index of method availability and acceptability, it does not reveal any information regarding other barriers women and men may face to accessing and using contraceptives, such as access to facilities, cost, etc.  It also does not describe utilization of a contraceptive method and continuation among clients.