Pregnancy immunity passes test

Press, 20 October 1987, Page 4

Pregnancy immunity passes test

By

ALISON PUCBY

of AAP (through NZPA) Perth Australian women could be immunised against pregnancy within the next eight years, a senior obstetrician says. Professor Warren Jones, of Adelaide’s Flinders Medical Centre, told the fourth Australian Congress on Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Perth that phase one tests on about 30 Adelaide women had successfully concluded. The tests had shown the technique to be safe and effective for six to nine months after immunisation. Professor Jones said he expected the technique to create an outcry among anti-abortionists, .who were likely to protest that the immunisation resulted in early abortion. He also expected it to be unpopular in Islamic countries, which were likely to ban it The technique, developed by the World Health Organisation in conjunction with researchers in the United States, Melbourne and Adelaide, immunised women against the H.C.G. hormone, dis-

rupting the early development of the fertilised egg. The Immunisation produced antibodies which attacked the fertilised egg in the fallopian tubes or after implantation, acting similarly to an interuterine device (1.U.D.). . Professor Jones said the phase one tests had proved safe, produced no side-effects and produced a level of antibodies that would prevent pregnancy. The major benefits included eliminating the problem of uunwanted pregnancies due to missed pills, and would be popular among women who did not like taking drugs, or who were at risk of heart disease by combining smoking with contraceptive pills. He said immunisation would be popular in Third World countries where it was difficult to get women to use the pill. Dr Jones said the immunisation technique had been tested for eight years on baboons before being tested on humans. Phase two tests would take up to three years to complete and the technique could be on the market by the mid-19905, he said.