At its semi-annual meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in March 2017, the FP2020 Performance Monitoring & Evidence Working Group (PME WG) acknowledged the confusion around the term “additional users,” – FP2020 Core Indicator 1 – and sought to clarify the terminology with the following statement:

“The term “additional users” does not apply to individuals, but refers to the net number of current modern contraceptive users above a specified baseline. In the case of FP2020, the baseline is the number of current modern contraceptive users there were in 2012.

The Family Planning 2020 Performance Monitoring and Evidence Working Group recognizes the confusion in terminology commonly used among family planning programs and initiatives around the world. For example, the term “new user”, usually used to refer to an individual, is often and incorrectly used interchangeably with the term “additional users”, which is measured at a population level.

We support efforts to clarify and distinguish between overlapping terminology in common usage. Please see the resources below as examples of these efforts.”

Resources to Clarify Family Planning Terminology

• “Track20 Technical Brief: Additional Users.” Track20 Project, Avenir Health. 
• Dasgupta A, Weinberger M, Bellows B, Brown W. “New users” are confusing our counting: reaching consensus on how to measure “additional users” of family planning. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2017;5(1):6-14. https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00328
• “Additionality: Capturing Additional Users in a Health Market.” Social Franchising Metrics Working Group.