ICMR takes a shot at a male contraceptive

Guha stumbled onto the contraceptive when researching a way to purify drinking water 30 years ago. The injection consists of a polymer called styrene maleic anhydride, which renders sperm ineffective. Guha has already got the injection patented in India, China, Bangladesh and the US.

“RISUG is unique in that Guha has developed a new molecule. Though polymer is being used for other things the world over, Guha alone has used it as a spermicide,” said Dr N.C. Saxena, head of department of reproductive research in ICMR. This one-time injection can be reversed if desired.

Among those who were huddled at LJNP Hospital in Delhi for their first shot were Khemchand and his wife Rajesh, from Galon village in Uttar Pradesh. Khemchand isn’t just the first villager to be administered the injection, he also managed to motivate at least 10 others from his village to take the injection at LNJP Hospital, under the supervision of Dr H.C. Das.

Before being given the injection, couples undergo tests for various diseases including cancer and later. The man is injected after a local anaesthesia. “In five minutes it was over and I went home feeling fine,” said 30 year-old Sitaram, father of four kids.

His wife Sangeeta was planning to get a tubectomy done but Sitaram persuaded her to let him take the injection instead. “She is already weak, and an operation would not have been good for her,” he said.

Each of them got Rs 2,000 for their trouble, and the man will get a travel allowance each time he comes to the city for sperm tests. Though Khemchand says money was never an incentive, for Mahesh, a 43 year-old employee of AIIMS, money played a role in using a contraceptive method he wouldn’t otherwise have considered.

Mahesh went in for the injection 10 years ago, during a 53 day-strike that was on at AIIMS then. “Salaries were not being paid and I needed the money. But I needed the injection too as I had two children and did not want any more,” he says. Only his wife knows about it in his family. “My wife asked me why I got it done,” he recalled. When told that consent of both man and wife was being sought, he said: “Wives will never agree to it as they do not like their men to undergo such operations.” But Mahesh concurs that he’s never used any contraceptive since.

Workers motivating people for the trial take care to ensure that both spouses were being told. “Earlier, the man would agree and come for three weeks for various tests, but would drop out later since their wives would dissuade them,” says Narender, part of the project. That in fact, could be the biggest challenge for the injection. “The project is attractive but unfortunately, male contraceptives do not find many takers,” Dr Saxena said.