French version issued as document no. WHO/HRP/BRF88-89/91.

Reports the main activities of the WHO Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction during the 1988-1989 biennium. Presented in a popular, non-technical style, the book serves as both an explanation of the many challenges facing research in human reproduction and an encouraging record of the way these challenges are being met through a coordinated international research effort. A brief overview of the Programmes objectives and methods of work is followed by five chapters explaining how these objectives are being pursued in a large number of research projects, including several major multinational trials launched during the biennium. Highlights include the publication of the first series of results from a large multicentre study on oral contraceptive use and cancer, the successful completion of the clinical development of two once-a-month injectables and the levonorgestrel-releasing vaginal ring, and significant progress in the development of a hormonal contraceptive for men and a birth-control vaccine for women. The report also records a number of research initiatives designed to determine whether conditions common in developing countries, such as iron-deficiency anaemia and infection with hepatitis B, may compromise the safety of contraceptives. A second group of chapters shows how the Programme is working to strengthen the research capabilities of developing countries, to assist in the transfer of new technologies, and to encourage the development of national self-reliance. The report concludes with brief information about the Programmes management, financing, staffing, and methods of collaboration with the international scientific community.

Previous reports 1972-1985 in PC.HQ (HRP), 1986- in DC.HQ

eng fre.

WHO monograph

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