Research needs in population and family planning: a view from the developing world.

This paper argues that there is a great need for family planning research in the developing world and identifies the areas in which research is most necessary. More effective delivery systems and more acceptable contraceptive methods are needed to maintain family planning motivation in the Third World. Most contraceptive technology has been developed in industrialized countries and people in developing countries have been expected to adapt to it in spite of differentials in motivation, medical facilities, nutritional status, disease patterns and so on. Timing of the research is critical because population is continually growing, so that an immediate marginal improvement in available contraceptives may be much more useful than a new contraceptive technique which will take 20 years to develop. Local research needs to be done on the safety of oral contraceptives, IUD insertion techniques, patient selection for IUDs, reversability of vasectomies, delivery of female sterilization services, improvements in conventional contraceptives--heretofore underemphasized--such as condoms, diaphragms and spermicides, and marketing techniques for family planning. Adapting present contraceptive methods to the needs of the developing countries is less costly than basic research in reproductive biology and makes contraceptives available sooner to more couples.