Despite recent scientific advances, and a striking need for new contraceptives, the country's social, legal, political and economic climate presents serious obstacles to bringing new birth control methods to market, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM)/National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Contraceptive Research and Development, chaired by dean of the School of Public Health Allan Rosenfield. As many as 228 million women worldwide still lack effective contraceptive protection, according to the report prepared by the committee.

At a national press conference in Washington on May 28, at which the report was released to the public, Rosenfield, chairman of the 17-member IOM panel, stated that "contraceptives, like children's vaccines, are a social product needed for both public and individual health." Quoted widely in the media, including by NPR, The New York Times and USA Today, Rosenfield noted that hundreds of millions of people have unmet contraception needs, resulting in millions of unintended births and abortions each year around the world.

In his opening statement at the public briefing, Rosenfield asserted that "societal, liability, regulatory, political, and financial factors have all but stalled [contraceptive] R&D efforts.... Most contraceptive development activity has focused on modifying existing methods rather than on creating truly new approaches."

The committee report states that despite dramatic evidence of a large unmet need for contraception, and strong evidence of exciting scientific leads to wholly new contraceptive products, there has been a significant decline in pharmaceutical industry involvement in research in this area. The report suggests mechanisms by which industry and the public sector could work together to increase investment in contraceptive research, and recommends the development of an FDA standards defense for contraceptives once approved by the FDA to help limit somewhat product liability suits, with the caveat that normal FDA rigor and careful scrutiny continue.

Among its other recommendations, the committee calls on insurers to cover contraception--a move that could save money given the costs of abortion and pregnancy. The report paints an optimistic picture of bright scientific promise for the future.

Columbia University Record -- June 7, 1996 -- Vol. 21, No. 29