The Male Contraception Information Project gets letters all the time from men who are willing to go to great lengths to get new contraceptive options. People want to know what they can do now, not in 5 or 10 years, even if it means considerable effort! 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 men participating in the trial to be local for all the follow-up appointments required by international drug-testing rules. 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 and expect 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, further collaboration between RISUG’s developers and other international researchers has been difficult to pull together. But once enrollment in its own clinical trial is completed, the government of India, which has supported the development of RISUG, may have its energies freed up for new projects and sharing its expertise. 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.
I am sorry not to be able to give you a different answer. 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 your friends 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!
MCIP’s director was interviewed on Florida’s “105.5 The Beat” radio. Here are some other articles that spread awareness of male contraception research this month:
A snarky 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-type potential male contraceptive – and the importance of this research 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-type drug: “[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 treating young, healthy people is a risky proposition. The article makes clear that the company and researchers involved are cautious and are going to focus first on uses other than contraception. “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
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: monkey sex! (Mating studies to make sure the low sperm counts translate into no pregnancies.)
Hassle-free contraceptive pill for men being developed by scientists
Daily Mail, 28 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, or is it an urban legend? 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
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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.
