Dear JP,

Thank you for your letters to these magazines (and for encouraging
others to
write)! It is great to see that a supportive, committed community
has
developed in this discussion group.

As always with male contraception, progress has been much slower than
any
of us would like. Here is where things stand:

The author pitching the RISUG story was planning to use the release
of the
World Health Organization site visit report as the news "hook" for
the story (it
is much easier to get a story published when there's "breaking news"
or a
current events "hook"). The WHO report was going to be released in a
matter
of weeks.

Unfortunately, when the draft of the report was sent to Dr. Guha, he
was given
only about two weeks to review it before the expected release. As he
needed
to go over it with collaborating scientists at research centers
around the
country (and, to top it off, had recently changed institutes and had
a lot of his
papers still in boxes), he asked for more time.

The WHO agreed to this, but it meant that the report would not be
released
before the project coordinator's maternity leave. So the news hook,
the WHO
report, is still unreleased. I believe the author is still
interested in the story,
and we will take it up again as soon as the report nears release.

Meanwhile, the MCIP iteself has been operating in minimalist
"survival" mode
over the past year. I apologize for the resulting lack of presence
on the
discussion group. Things are looking up, though, and you should see
more
activity in the coming months. The first priority is a revised
version of the 1994
paper "Frontiers in Male Contraception," followed by publicity work.
Keep an
eye out for what should be the first of many mentions: an article in
KnotMag.com by Michael Corey. He expects it to be posted Thursday or
soon
thereafter.

Finally, a note about quotations and the "Men don't like their
private parts
messed with" quote. Please remember that there's a complicated path
between what an interviewee says (or is trying to say) and what ends
up on
the printed page. The context is often lost! However, your point is
well-taken.
I believe I've read that between condoms and vasectomy, men are
taking care
of more than half the contraception going on in the country-- and I
was not
aware of that four years ago. Sure, there are some macho types out
there still,
but I believe each generation is more receptive (and more interested
in
reproductive self-determination) than the last.

I still believe what followed that quote: that without something
between the
dismal reliability of the condom and the likely irreversibility of
vasectomy, men
have little way of taking more control over their fertility. (I do
not, however,
work to publicize hormonal methods, as I do not wish to see men be
guinea
pigs the way my women friends were with earlier versions of the Pill.
We
have to be able to do better than that.)

I hope this answers your questions and that there will soon be more
to report.

Elaine Lissner
Director, MCIP
(Male Contraception Information Project)



--- In malecontraceptives@yahoogroups.com, "jp40177" <jp40177@y...>
wrote:
> Dear Dr. Lissner:
>
> Last Fall, you asked members of this group to write to various
> magazines to encourage them to publish pieces on RISUG. Some of us
> put considerable effort into writing impassioned pleas for these
> articles, and we would appreciate some feedback from you on the
> progress that you made.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> JP