Smart Contraceptive Vending Machines
Can introducing contraceptive vending machines (utilising the Internet of Things) in areas where adolescents’ needs are going unmet successfully create demand and meet the needs of women and girls?
LOCATION | Kenya
SECTOR | Health
TECH | Internet of Things
TIMELINE | July 2018 - August 2021
PIONEER | Antony Herrmann
PARTNERS | PSI
The Challenge
214 million women in the developing world want to avoid pregnancy but are not using a modern contraceptive method. If the unmet need for modern contraception was fully met, it would result in an estimated 76,000 fewer maternal deaths each year, as well as supporting many more women escape the cycle of poverty through unplanned pregnancies. There are two main problems that prevent young women from accessing modern contraception: stigma towards purchasing contraception and lack of products in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
The Idea
This pilot installed Internet of Things (IOT) connected contraceptive vending machines in Kenya to target urban, sexually active youth and 18-24 females and males. By using IoT, a database will be notified when vending machines are running low on certain contraceptives to avoid stock-outs. Additionally, this pilot educated users on how to use the vending machines and how to use the contraceptive itself. If successful, this pilot will reduce the fear among young adults around purchasing contraceptives and improve reliability of consistent contraceptive access.
The Scaling Journey
What we learned
It is critical to engage users before you design a solution, as it is important to comprehensively understand the behaviours that hinder or motivate the users in accessing the intervention.
The benefits of this intervention were extremely useful to the target users, as the vending machine offered: privacy, subsised condom prices, fast and easy service and 24/7 access.
User research suggested that whether customers returned to a vending machine for repeat purchases dependent on the quality of the product and customer experience.
Further iterations are necessary to solve the connectivity challenges and identify the best locations for the machines in low income areas.
All photos on this page were taken by the pilot’s implementing partner, PSI. Read more
Explore the step-by-step journey of the pilot – Pilot Story
Learn more about IoT vending machines — “Accelerating access to family planning through smart contraceptive vending machines”
Read the pilot story — Smart Contraceptive Vending Machines in Kenya