Editorial - provider in Uganda

Technical expertise

    Home      What we do      Technical Expertise

    MSI’s work is powered by evidence and clinical best practice.  


    As evidence-based providers of reproductive healthcare for almost 50 years, we’ve learned a lot about best practice. And when evidence is shared openly across the reproductive healthcare sector, we will all reach our goals faster — like ending unsafe abortion for good.  

    That’s why we collect data, track results and share best practices, with the aim of helping the entire global health sector maximise its impact. 

    Fuelled by data

    With accurate data we can make informed decisions on how to make the most of our resources to reach more women and have the greatest impact. 

    300m

    Data points collected every year 

    180k+

    Interviews with clients on their experiences

    100

    Research, evidence & impact team members across the globe


    Using evidence to make decisions 

    Our expert research and impact teams work with country programmes, governments and other organisations to gather quantitative and qualitative data. We use this data to: 

    • evaluate and improve our services 
    • understand who our clients are  
    • assess how we can reach those who need our services most  
    • advocate for laws and policies that support reproductive health and rights
    • understand the factors that influence people’s contraceptive choices 
    • prove our impact and ensure accountability for our donors and partners 

    Our Ethics Review Committee reviews the quality and ethics of our research. And much of this research and data is available in our resource library.  

    Reproductive health interventions: a collection of evidence & insights 

    Working in partnerships, we’ve pioneered the use of new techniques and approaches, based on evidence and our experience of delivering services in some of the world’s most challenging environments.  

    Our recent Evidence & Insights Compendium shares 16 case studies highlighting some of the most interesting projects and interventions we’ve been involved in across the globe. They share tools for quality assessment and strengthening, and what we’ve learned. 

    Expanding choice, protecting quality MSI’s 2022 Clinical Quality Report

    Clients and quality come first 

    We support clients to make the reproductive choices that are right for them. That is what we mean by client-centred care. Our client-centred care strategy helps our teams provide care that puts our clients’ interests first — empowering them to be active decision-makers, caring about who they are, what happens to them, and how they feel when they receive a service from us.  

    As the famous quote goes, “quality means doing it right when no one is looking”. It is the quality of MSI’s clinical services that sets us apart and allows us to make a positive impact on the lives of millions of clients.  

    We have clinical quality standards and processes in place to ensure whoever the client and wherever the facility, a high-quality service is provided. Our local quality assurance teams carry out on-the-job training, mentoring and assessment against global standards, supported by annual visits from our international quality assurance team.  

    High standards don’t come easy — especially when working at scale. It takes dedicated healthcare professionals striving to not only meet but exceed our clients’ expectations every single day.  

    To dig into the detail, read our latest Clinical Quality Report.  

    Wherever we provide services in the world, whether it’s rural outreach in Tanzania or in an urban clinic in the UK, they are always high quality and focused on the needs of women. 

    What’s a CYP? 

    The core metric used in the reproductive healthcare sector to measure the impact of our work is ‘Couple Years of Protection’ (CYP). One CYP is the contraception needed for a couple to prevent pregnancy for one year. 

    Different contraceptive methods have different numbers of CYPs, depending on how long they can be used for and how effectively they prevent pregnancy.  

    Download our infographic to see how many CYPs each contraceptive method delivers: 

    With accurate data we can make informed decisions on how to make the most of our resources to reach more women and have the greatest impact. 

    Tools for the health sector  


    A tool for measuring reproductive healthcare benefits & impact

    We believe that we should be held accountable for the impact that our work has, not simply the amount of work that we do. So, we’ve developed Impact 2

    Impact 2 is an innovative and industry-leading mathematical tool that measures the impact of our work and the wider social and economic benefits of access to contraception. It is available for download, along with guidance and training notes. 


    SafeAccess: a resource hub on abortion and post-abortion care

    As one of the world’s leading providers of abortion care, we came together with partners at the Safe Abortion Action Fund, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Ipas, Population Services International and others to launch SafeAccess.

    SafeAccess is an online resource hub sharing best practice guidance, news and resources on safe abortion and post-abortion care, from tools that support grassroots organisations to advocate for abortion rights, to pictorial guides on how to safely self-manage an abortion.