Some men are willing to go to great lengths to get ahold of new contraceptive options! They’re tired of waiting and are ready to take matters into their own hands. What can you tell them? For example, Tim from Canada writes:
Q:
I was wondering if you would know of doctors or hospitals in India that would be willing to perform the RISUG procedure on peoples of other countries. For example, myself and a number of friends are interested in flying to India to have this done. I have searched online, and even emailed hospitals in India that bill themselves as catering to foreigners interested in various procedures to no avail. Any help in this regard would be wonderful.
A:
Unfortunately, the RISUG clinical trial in India is not open to foreigners at this point. The doctors need the people participating in the trial to be local for all the follow-up appointments required by the trial protocol. However, I am copying your message to the investigators to let them know that we continue to see interest from men who are willing and eager to fly to India to have the procedure.
We hope there will be opportunity for collaboration on studies here in North America soon! Although a Canadian doctor participating in a World Health Organization site visit in 2002 learned to do the RISUG procedure, collaboration between RISUG’s developers and other international researchers has been difficult until recently. The government of India, which has supported the development of RISUG, may be willing to share expertise once enrollment in its own clinical trial is completed and energies are freed up for new projects. An obvious first step would be collaboration on manufacturing, and a U.S. research group has expressed interest in collaborating on a rabbit study once that is done. Beyond technical expertise, bringing RISUG to North America will require the solid support of our own policymakers. Reproductive health budgets are tight these days, but attitudes are changing, thanks in part to input from family planning providers and men like you.
In the meantime, please do ask your friends to fill out the survey at MaleContraceptives.org and write about their interest in the letter; it really makes a difference when policymakers see this kind of demand. And let them know about the newsletter mailing list so they can stay up to date on news and find out when there are calls for advocacy! This process is painfully slow, but it is moving in the right direction. With the largest-ever set of young men and women now entering reproductive age around the world, there's plenty of incentive to start putting together the brains and resources from both sides of the ocean, and soon!
There’s a new reference for primary health care providers working with men: Clinical Men’s Health. The book includes “in-depth evaluations of topics such as organising preventive healthcare in men, gender disparities on a global scale, the problem of health-seeking in men, and pertinent medical and biopsychosocial issues in the developing male from infancy to adolescence.”
“The emphasis within the text has been to offer a current and evidence-based reference guide to the diseases and disorders that affect male patients of all ages, with a comparative epidemiologic focus for the growing needs of primary care clinicians. The text of this timely book, by highly respected authors, seeks to give analysis, evidence-based references, and international comparisons in order to be a true reference guide, but also to show the complexity of the issues involved.”
Read more:
- Clinical Men’s Health: Evidence in Practice (2007) Joel J. Heidelbaugh (Ed.). Saunders Elsevier, Philadephia. ISBN-13: 978-1-4160-3000-3.
- Meryn S. (2007) Book review. International Journal of Men’s Health and Gender 4(4): 464.
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In a review of published literature, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health assessed the state of our knowledge about indicators of quality of care in US family planning programs. The researchers created scales to quantify a range of quality indicators: accessibility, communication and information provided, client-staff interactions, efficiency and effective organization of care, technical competencies, comfort and safety of the facilities, the range of method choice, and patient-centeredness.
The researchers conclude that “from a programmatic standpoint, the picture of family planning services obtained from this review is, for the most part, quite favorable. For a number of domains of quality, such as client-staff interactions and the method choice offered to clients, service quality has generally been found to be quite high. Nevertheless, other domains could be improved—for instance, waiting times for appointments, the adequacy of communication and information exchange during visits, the adequacy of follow-up mechanisms, the patient-centeredness of services and clients’ ability to see the same provider at all visits. Since research has found that the aspects of care most important to clients include receiving personalized attention, having sufficient communication and explanations from providers, and receiving affordable care, these aspects of quality should also be targeted in future quality improvement efforts.”
Read more:
Becker D, Koenig MA, Kim YM, Cardona K, Sonenstein FL. (2007) “The Quality of Family Planning Services in the United States: Findings from a Literature Review” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
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We're passing this along from the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, for those who are members. If you take the survey, you can use the box at the end to mention that you'd like to see more long-term methods for men.
"NFPRHA is conducting a survey of its membership to analyze the potential for expanded use of long-term reversible contraceptives (specifically, ParaGard, Mirena, and Implanon). This survey is designed to ascertain current use, provider and client preferences, and potential barriers with respect to the provision and use of long-term reversible contraceptives. Whether your clinic(s) does or does not currently provide long-term reversible contraceptives, we need to hear from you! This important survey is part of NFPRHA's continuing effort to ascertain and address the needs of our members and the patients you serve.
"Please access the survey now as the deadline for completing this survey is Friday, January 4, 2008.
"If you have any trouble using our online survey, or if you prefer, you can also fax us your survey responses and we will enter your data into the system for you. Simply print out the survey, write in your answers, and fax your completed survey to 202-293-1990."
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MCIP’s director was interviewed on Florida’s “105.5 The Beat ” radio. Here are some other features:
A derisive piece from the Times Online (UK) about why men can’t be trusted to use birth control. “Men cannot be trusted to change their underwear regularly, never mind take a tablet.” Completely ignores the potential of long-acting methods, not to mention that men already contribute about a third of contraception between condoms and vasectomy. Readers spare nothing in their comments: “This sort of man-slagging is distinctly un-feminist” (a woman) and “I would think that the author's attitude is all the contraception that she will ever need” (a man).
A contraceptive for males? That’s a laugh
The Times Online (UK), 4 December
Coverage of work on a testosterone-like potential male contraceptive – in the context of the first rise in the U.S. teen birth rate since 1991.
It’s OK, I’m on the Pill; Fair and unbalanced
Sidelines, 6 December
Details on the progress of the above testosterone-like substance: “[An] experimental drug called C-31 had rendered 100 percent of male rats sterile… [The] effect was fully reversible, raising hopes of progress for a long sought pharmaceutical: a male birth-control pill... But the company and the researchers involved are cautious. GTx spokesman McDavid Stilwell described the research as early stage, and Jim Dalton, who recently left UT's pharmacy department to work full time with GTx, said the firm is placing a much higher priority on Ostarine, a related drug meant to fight bone and muscle wasting in patients with cancer and other conditions.”
Local firm reports progress on male birth control
The Commercial Appeal, 20 December
A significant portion of the men we hear from worry about women “running out of time” to have a baby and telling them they are using contraception when they aren’t. Are there really women out there like that? This article profiles two women, one of whom, though the process may not involve deception, admits to taking advantage of some men’s willingness to have unprotected sex in the heat of the moment. “Should I hang my head in shame admitting I had sex with men because I wanted to get pregnant, even though they were not actively complicit in my desire?”
The late baby debate
The Sunday Times (UK), 16 December
Coverage of a succesful study on the nonhormonal compound CDB-4022 in male monkeys, reported at last September's NICHD conference. Dr. Sheri Hild is interviewed: "It was a beautiful study. Sperm counts went down to a level considered infertile and came back up on their own. And it didn't have any effects on hormones such as testosterone, so we are very excited about it." Next step: mating studies.
Hassle-free contraceptive pill for men being developed by scientists
Daily Mail, 28 December
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Editors
Elaine Lissner, Director of the Male Contraception Information Project (MCIP)
Email: info@NewMaleContraception.org
MCIP is entirely nonprofit and works in three areas: raising public awareness of promising nonhormonal male contraceptives, advocating increased and expedited government research, and serving as a resource for journalists who wish to write about the subject.
Kirsten Thompson, Director of the Male Contraception Coalition (MCC)
Email: info@MaleContraceptives.org
The Coalition’s objectives are to speed the development of new male contraceptives through increased legislative and institutional support, to raise funds for applied male contraception research and development, and to educate the public about the work of the research community.
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